


Silver Medal

by JulianObviouslyLovesToad



Category: X-Men - All Media Types, X-Men Evolution
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Cunnilingus, Daddy Issues, Depression, Drug Use, Emotionally Repressed, F/M, Freddy is a Good Bro, Internalized Homophobia, Lance Is a Good Bro, Loneliness, Lots of kissing, M/M, Self-Harm, Slow Build, Teenage Drama, reluctantly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-06
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2018-05-12 03:32:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 30
Words: 49,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5651008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JulianObviouslyLovesToad/pseuds/JulianObviouslyLovesToad
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Brotherhood house contains enough drama to fuel a tween magazine for years. Todd is in love with Wanda, but she wants nothing from him beyond their loose friendship based solely on getting high together. Pietro, no longer afraid of his sister, grows insanely jealous of her ability, of their father's praise and the way the man dotes on her. He's tired of being everyone's silver medal. Todd just wishes he could be a placement ribbon. The other members of the Brotherhood try to hold on for dear life while riding the waves of teenage angst and hormones. Herein is a tale of love, drugs and personal hygiene products.</p><p>Endgame Pietro/Todd</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Todd laid on his thin, beaten up old mattress, listening to Pietro’s music filter up from the living room. His threadbare sheets had been pulled from the bed weeks ago, first used as blankets because the speedster had stolen his comforter (and subsequently burned it because it smelled bad), then balled up and thrown in the corner after he’d gotten sick on them at some point. He stared at the cracked paint on the ceiling, wondering when Pietro would get tired of the sad music he was listening to.

As much as Todd wanted to turn on his side, to curl up into a ball and wrap his arms around himself to stay warm, he couldn’t. Rather, he could, but he didn’t want to deal with the pain it would bring. He’d fallen from the roof again. Luckily his body was rather malleable – muscles and squishy flesh protected his bones, and he’d fallen in such a way that nothing especially squishy was damaged. Last time his fall had been broken by a bush, and while it wasn’t pleasant, it was certainly softer than the ground he’d landed on this time.

When he heard the familiar rapping of knuckles on the doorframe, he forced himself to sit up, forced a smile onto his face.

“Heya, baby-cakes,” he said, brandishing off-color teeth with what he thought was a brilliant smile. Never mind the fact that his eyes were even more heavily lidded than usual.

“How many times have I told you not to call me that?” Wanda asked, letting herself into his room.

“Sweetie-pie?” Todd tried instead.

“No.”

“Honey-bunch?”

“Todd, do you want me to share my weed or not?” Wanda growled, leveling a glare at the shorter mutant.

“I’d really appreciate that,” Todd said. He kicked a dirty shirt off the end of the bed, offering Wanda a seat.

“I bet, considering your dumb ass fell off the roof again,” she said with a shake of her head. She checked the spot he cleared for anything suspicious before flopping down. As she rolled a joint, a piece of creased paper resting in the dip between her legs made by one crossing over the other, she watched Todd watch her out of the corner of her eye. “You can quit staring at me, you know. You look high already.”

“Well, you know what they say about pretty ladies,” Todd said, swiping his hair out of his face.

Wanda raised a brow. “Whatever your pick-up line is, save it. I’d rather talk philosophy,” she said, letting the thin, wrinkled strip hang from between her lips while she put what had fallen into the paper back in a sandwich bag. She put that in her coat pocket then stood and shucked her coat.

“I can talk philosophy, baby girl,” Todd said with a little chuckle as his eyes wandered up Wanda’s form, eventually settling on watching the shadows play over her features while she lit the paper.

“You can’t talk about much of shit sober,” she said, attempting to hold in the smoke of a long pull. She passed the joint to Todd, holding it by the tip so he’d have no excuse to touch her fingers, as he liked to do.

“I’m pretty sure I say the same shit no matter what amount of influence I’m undeh,” he started and put the paper to his lips, “you just think it’s all deep and philosophical-like because you’re high as fuck and every word makes you ponder the meaning of life.”

Wanda snorted in response, moving one hand up by her head, making a gesture indicative of an explosion. “Mind blown,” she said teasingly, impatiently waiting for Todd to finish. She leaned back on one arm and held the other out expectantly. “Maybe there is a spark of reason in that stupid little head of yours after all,” she teased, and Todd grinned broadly.

They passed the joint until it was impossible to put the thing to their lips without burning their fingers. Wanda handed it to Todd with instructions to stub it out in his bedside stand. The thing was a wreck already, she reasoned. He did, leaving the roach there. One of them would pick it up later.

After a minute, after the haze creeped in, Todd reached out slowly for Wanda’s bare arm. She watched as he did so, laughing at the way his careful fingers brushed the almost invisible hairs on her arm, tickling her. He took her elbow, wrapping his fingers around it. He pulled her close and she stopped him with a hand on his shirt.

“When was the last time you took a shower?” she asked.

Todd stopped to think for a moment, his thumb rubbing the sensitive bend of her arm as his eyes rolled up and to the right, trying to count backward to his last shower.

“Two days ago,” he answered sheepishly.

“Good enough,” she said, letting herself be pulled into his side. She weakly swatted at his hand when he started playing with the short hairs at the back of her neck. He relented for a moment, then started doing it again. Once more she swatted, adding a snort for good measure. When he went for the downy fuzz a third time, she grabbed his hand and pulled it over her shoulder. “Cut it out,” she groused.

“Sorry, sugar,” Todd said. He took a deep breath and let it out through his nose. “I just don’t get to have you this close very often.”

“Yeah, because you usually smell bad and you’re really handsy,” she said, laughing into his shirt. Her eyes focused in on a stain on the fabric and she wrinkled her nose. “What is this and how old is it?”

“Mayonnaise,” Todd answered, laughing at Wanda’s snort of disbelief. “Naw, I swear it is. Sandwiches with Freddy,” he said, rubbing the pads of his fingers over knuckles as she played with the webbing between his first and second finger. A minute of silence passed before a thought dawned on Todd. “You call me handsy and you can’t keep yer cute little fingers offa my webbing when you’re stoned.”

“You like it,” she said, turning a half-hearted glare up at the shorter mutant.  
“Of course I do, honey-buns. If you like somethin’ about me, I’m damn well gonna enjoy that. Jus’ pointin’ it out.” Instead of huffing out that she didn’t like anything about the other mutant like Todd expected, she started laughing, turning her face to avoid the crusty so-called mayonnaise.

“Your accent sounds so fucking weird when you’re talking all slow,” she said and pushed her face into Todd’s armpit. Her eyebrows shot up and she rolled away. Todd spooned in behind her and put his arm around her middle. She allowed it, propping her head up on her own hand and making herself comfortable. “If I bought you deodorant, would you wear it?” she asked, once more playing with the webbing between his fingers.

“For you, baby,” he said, rubbing his nose into those soft little hairs that he’d become temporarily obsessed with, “anything.” He neglected to mention how the substance would cake in the folds of his skin and pinch and pull and cause him to break out if he used it too many days in a row, but he was happy to do anything, brave any pain that would earn him more contact with Wanda.

“Tomorrow,” she said, hooking one finger around and pulling on the greenish pleat.

“Hunh?” Todd asked.

“I’m going to go buy you deodorant,” she clarified, “tomorrow.”

“Alright,” he said, silently mourning the pain he would feel, the loss of one healthy, undamaged part of himself. He laughed at the absurdity of the situation. Wanda squirmed at the feeling of his breath on the back of her neck and was soon laughing herself, though she laughed at the sensation of breath and lips at the nape of her neck rather than Todd’s satirical existence.

“Mm,” Wanda sighed happily once her laughter petered out, “so, what are we doing with our lives?”

“Whaddya mean?”

“Like, what are we even doing?” she asked, pushing her head back against Todd’s face until he backed off.

“Clearly we’re taking over the world,” Todd answered, “making a better world for mutants.”

“You and me?” she asked with a snort.

“Yeah,” Todd said with a little nod, taking a deep breath of the scent of her shampoo. “You and me and the rest’a the Brotherhood and Magneto and all them. We’re gonna rule the world, and everyone’s gonna be happy if they’re nice and, like, die if they’re not and I’m gonna be popular and people’ll think I’m attractive _because_ I’m a mutant.” Todd continued to ramble into her hair, pressing his hand into her belly to pull her closer to him. “It’s gonna be great.”

“You think people’s ideas of what’s attractive is going to change when the, uh, ruling power changes?” she asked with a snort.

“Don’t it alwa-“ Toad started, but was interrupted by a loud, whiny voice calling out for him.

“Hey, Todd, I need you to go out and get me a-“ Pietro’s voice stopped in the doorway as he took in the two on the bed. His lip raised in a disgusted snarl. “Never-fucking-mind,” he groused, turning on his heel to speed away.

Wanda burst into a giggle fit, and Todd chuckled into her hair. His chuckles eventually became a complete and utter guffaw as he replayed the shocked, confused and angry expressions that flit across the speedster’s face.

Todd’s last coherent thought before he started to drift aimlessly through cloud-like ponderings was ‘ _he deserves to be thrown off every once in a while_.’


	2. Chapter 2

“Wanda,” Todd moaned weakly, pawing at the bed next to him. He’d been having the best dream. Wanda smiling devilishly, crawling over his legs. She played with the rip in the knee of his jeans, tugging on it in a way that said she wanted them _off_. She laid out on the bed next to him as he worked on the button of his pants. He was welcomed back to the world of the waking by a slender hand meeting his face with a loud ‘crack’.

Todd opened his eyes to the wrong Maximoff looking down at him.

“Whaddya want, Pietro?” he asked, moving to stretch. Todd yelped in pain and curled in on himself. His hand went to his cheek when he realized it was stinging. “Did you hit me?” he squawked.

“Yeah!” Pietro said, reeling back and putting his hands on his hips. “You were having a naughty dream about Wanda! Don’t dream about my sister like that,” he hissed.

“Hey, I can’t control what I dream about!” Todd countered, sitting up. He grunted at the dull throbbing in his back, but realized, with a slight smile, that he felt a lot better than before he’d fallen asleep. Well, he corrected in his head, better than before Wanda had joined him. Before she’d shared her weed and graced him with a short cuddle. “Speaking of, where is my pookie-poo?”

“Dude, no,” Pietro said, holding up his hand. Todd looked to his bedside stand to find that she’d taken the roach with her. He frowned at the realization that he wouldn’t be able to mix the remnants with some tobacco from swiped cigarette butts. He then smiled when he recognized he’d have an excuse to bug Wanda later. “Hey, stoner sloth,” Pietro said, snapping his fingers. Todd let out an amused snort as he turned to Pietro.

“What, Fleetfoot?” he asked.

“Fleetfoot,” Pietro repeated with a snort. “Yeah, well, I’m going to need you to go outside and fix the antenna.”

“Again?” Todd asked with a groan.

“Yes, again. Lance got mad earlier and broke my CD player with his stupid powers _and_ he knocked the antenna off the roof in the process.” He watched the dirty-blonde in near-silence for a moment, huffing impatiently as the other got up from his bed. “So, yeah, I need you to go up there and fix it.

“Also,” Pietro started, pointing delicately with one finger, “fix your damn pants.”

Todd laughed nervously, a blush rising to his cheeks as he shoved his hand down the front of his jeans to adjust his erection.

“Ah geez!” Pietro groaned. “At least wait until I leave, you exhibitionist!”

“Ey, you don’t have to stand there and watch me. You tryin’a sneak a peek at my boner, ya voyeur?” Todd teased back.

“Ew, no. First of all,” Pietro said, counting off on his fingers as he cocked his hip to one side, “I’m surprised you know what the word ‘voyeur’ means. Second, you’re the pork boy, not me.”

“That’s not what your sister said,” came Todd’s retort.

“My sister didn’t say anything about your dick because she, like all intelligent people, wouldn’t be caught dead touching it. At least I can get a girl to touch mine when that kind of problem comes up for me.” Toad deflated at that round of insults, his shoulders slumping. Pietro felt bad for a fraction of a second and almost let it show on his face before he reminded himself that it was true, that he shouldn’t feel bad for telling the truth. “Just fix the damn antenna, Toad,” he said before speeding off.

“Yeah,” Todd mumbled at the empty doorway.

Finding himself on the roof again and wondering why he put up with so much abuse, Todd worked on finding the working spot for the antenna. Pietro shouted directions up at him from below, out the open front door. When Pietro yelled “it’s working”, Todd hocked a wad of sticky mucus at the base of the thing and held the metal rod upright as the spew dried. He looked over the edge of the building, shingles giving way to similarly colored dirt, and briefly wondered if the next time he fell he’d snap his neck. The question made him feel oddly giddy and a confused shiver wracked his small frame. His free hand gripped one of the shingles desperately.

Once the mucus was dry, Todd laid out on the roof, staring up at the sky. Gray clouds rolled in from the west, hanging low and heavy, pregnant with rain. He worried his bottom lip as he considered staying there. He wondered briefly if Wanda liked the scent of fresh rain, if the coming storm would leave him smelling like laundry detergents claimed the rain this time of year smelled.

“The fuck are you doing?” he heard from somewhere behind him. He recognized Pietro’s shrill voice, but it didn’t quite click that the other had joined him on the roof. When he sat up and turned his head, he found that the other had only sort of joined him, resting one arm on the roof from where he stood on the ladder as he looked at the dirty-blonde expectantly. “Are you still high? Gonna stare up at the sky with your mouth agape and drown when the rain comes?” he asked, tilting his head back to give a demonstration. He made a gargling noise that ended in a startled squawk. His arms flailed as the ladder tilted back from the house.

Todd’s hand shot out and took one slender wrist, pulling the older boy back into a stable position. The ladder clanged against the edge of the roof and they both stared at each other in shock. “Thanks,” Pietro muttered.

In that moment of uncertainty, when the fear of falling had been the only thing on Pietro’s mind, there were no other thoughts. He almost wanted that trepidation back when Todd just stared at him with a slack jaw, shocked that the other had shown any gratitude. He narrowed his eyes against the _should’ve let me fall_ that drifted across his conscious thought, and his mouth opened and words started pouring out before his brain had even decided on them.

“Keep staring like that and you will drown in the rain. I’m not Wanda, you know. I’m not just a pretty face for your ogling, though I do have a pretty face if I do say so myself. Get down off the roof before you get zapped by lightning, dumbass. If you die, I won’t have anyone to get up here and fix the antenna.” He knew he sounded downright bipolar, but he tried not to care what Todd thought. He let a puff of air out through his nostrils before sliding down the ladder. “Fine, stay up there, but I’m sure you know what happens to a toad when it gets struck by lightning.”

“It explodes?” Todd asked, his eyes widening with terror right after he’d shaken himself from the stupor of his so-called friend thanking him. As much as the thought of exploding tickled him, he didn’t want Wanda to have to witness pieces of him everywhere, so he shimmied down the ladder.

“Explodes?” Pietro asked, holding the door open for Todd for some reason unbeknownst to both boys. “What kind of messed up cartoons have you been watching?” He shook his head and decided he didn’t want to know before sitting down on the couch, picking up the remote to flip through channels.

“You hungry?” Todd asked, kicking at a stain in the carpet. He watched his shoelace drag across the coarse material.

“No,” and just like that, what Todd had thought was a moment of team bonding was over.

“OK,” he said, and turned to crouch, getting ready to hop up the stairs. He dispelled the loneliness that started to creep in with the joy that his physical pain had been reduced to an annoying ache. After one hop, he turned when he heard

“Wait.” Pietro looked annoyed as he stared at Todd. The slender mutant turned his nose up and crossed his ankles on the coffee table. “I guess I wouldn’t complain if you made me a sandwich,” he said.

“Horseradish on that?” Todd asked with his shoulders hunched, hands stuffed in his pockets as he stood.

Pietro pointed as if to say ‘bingo’ and nodded toward the smaller mutant. Todd hopped off toward the kitchen with a smile on his face and Pietro scowled at the TV. He told himself he didn’t give a damn about the other’s feelings. He convinced himself that he didn’t know where Wanda was when he knew damn well she was out with their father. He wondered what he would think if he knew his little princess had spent the last few hours before she met up with him getting high and practically cuddling with _Toad_ on a filthy mattress. He almost snarled as he told himself he didn’t care. Pushed the button on the remote just a little too hard as he tried to convince himself that it didn't matter.

He’d always been good at lying to himself.


	3. Chapter 3

It’s a school day, Todd realizes, and it gave him even less of a desire to get up. The sun isn’t even out yet, but he’s laying wide awake. Something woke him, but he’d been too slow to consciousness to figure out what it was. He was still a little sore but he was happy to note, as he lazily swung his legs over the side of the bed, that soreness was the extent of his pain.

He rolled a loose cigarette from butts he’d swiped from various ashtrays with papers Wanda had given him. His lighter he stole from someone, but it worked as he lit the paper and inhaled the surprisingly minty smoke. His eyebrows rose as he realized he’d swiped a menthol. He pulled the wrinkled paper away from his mouth and smacked his lips, enjoying the way his mouth tingled. His mind was blissfully blank for a moment as nicotine rushed through his system, leaving him with the slightest of tingles in his fingers and toes.

Then he realized the TV was on downstairs, the sound of commercials drifting up from below. Todd wondered if Freddy had fallen asleep on the couch again, watching something. If he had, that meant the dirty blonde could sneak into his friend’s room and curl up in his bed, under his big, fluffy comforter and sleep properly, warmly, for the couple hours he had left before he had to get ready for school.

He decided he’d go check after he finished his cigarette.

It wasn’t as if Freddy had a problem with him coming in and curling up in his bed with him. He’d sometimes even treat him like a teddy bear or a scared baby brother, though that made Todd less inclined to do it, even if he was freezing. Pietro already called him ‘pork boy’ and ‘bender’, and he was fairly certain Wanda was trying to turn him into her gay friend, and that’s depressing. The white haired mutant knew Todd was in love with his sister and yet he insisted on insinuating that Todd liked dick.

It wouldn’t have been so upsetting if Pietro’s opinion didn’t effect Wanda’s perception of him. She said it didn’t, but Todd knew better. For once.

With a sigh, he stubbed out his cigarette on his bedside stand and left it. He creeped out the door and down the stairs. He cursed quietly when he didn’t see Freddy’s bulk on the couch.

“What are you doing up?” came a question from the couch.

“Couldn’ sleep, yo,” he admitted quietly, a little wary of Pietro after where his ponderings had taken him. But, he offered his supposed friend the courtesy of “you?”

“Same,” Pietro answered with an irritated huff. He both hoped Todd would stay and hoped he would go the fuck away. He hoped the dirty blonde would stay because he wanted company, wanted a reason to keep his composure, and yeah, he wanted to experience a little schadenfreude at the other’s expense. But he’d rather the other left, his racing thoughts having kept him from his nightly four hour nap making him miserable. He wanted the other to leave because Todd was chatty. He was worried he might answer questions if the slimeball started asking and all he wanted to do was run away from his thoughts. He knew he could do it, he did it all the time. Nothing cleared his mind like running through the mall, de-pantsing strangers, but the mall was closed and Todd was holding onto the banister staring at him like he should be saying something and- “What?” he bit out.

“Nothin’, man. You, uh, you hungry?”  
  
“No. Yes,” he corrected. “Popcorn,” he said, and because Wanda had decided Todd was her little pet stoner-frog, he added “please.”

It wasn’t that he was afraid of Wanda. She had no reason to hate him now. Thought he could stand to not be put through a window. Wanda had never had a pet and she wanted one, but was incapable of taking care of a cat or a dog, Pietro thought, so she got herself a Toad. She wasn’t interested in Toad in a romantic way, but the silver haired mutant had started to wonder if it might be good for him if she were. It would certainly draw their father’s ire, or at least the man would be disappointed. _No pretty babies from either of your useless kids, old man_ , and he shook his head to banish the thought. He heard kernels bursting in the bag over the low hum of the microwave, and on top of it all Todd was humming as he did something else. He wondered what his father would do to Todd if he and Wanda started dating. He wouldn’t put it past the older man to kill his friend, and yeah, he sometimes thought of Todd as his friend. Like when he was trying to talk himself out of using his friend for something that may get him killed. Like when that friend who he was considering using for his own selfish ends, to get the one-up on his sister in his father’s eyes, maybe getting the other killed in the process was bringing him a bowl of popcorn.

“Here ya go,” Todd said, holding out the bowl with one hand, holding a sandwich of some sort in the other.

“Thanks,” Pietro said, snatching the bowl from the blonde. He balanced it in his lap as he continued to flip channels, trying, and failing, not to look at Todd as he perched on the couch next to him. The dirty, olive-tinted boy took a bite out of his sandwich and Pietro couldn’t help but quip; “Flies not cutting it for ya?”

“Who needs flies when you’ve got peanut buttah?” Todd asked, smiling and waving the bitten sandwich around.

Pietro snorted and smirked and relaxed back into the sofa with a shake of his head. Before long, his racing thoughts made him aware of how close the other boy was sitting. He was close enough to reach out and touch if he wanted to, which he didn’t, but the option was still there. Being close to people made Pietro feel antsy, made him want to talk, to sass, to boast. To pick and prod and tease and touch, and he’s pissed off by how much he wants to touch Spyke when he runs up against him, so he shoves him and bullies him and says hateful things. The same thing happens with Cyclops, and even fucking Lance, which is why he’s so mean to the other boy. But he can’t be especially mean to one person, lest the others figure out, so he’s mean to Freddy and Todd too. He finds that he says a lot of hateful things to avoid saying embarrassing things. It’s easier to lash out, to have a lovely lady or two on each arm than it is to be vulnerable. They’re not so bad, he supposes, the girls. A lot like him in a way, and he wonders when he’ll find his silver medal amongst those prettily average faces. He shakes his head for probably the twentieth time that night, and catches a glimpse of Todd, who is finishing the last few bites of his sandwich. He wonders what the other is thinking, why he’s sitting here with him when he’s been nothing but an ass to the blonde for the entire time they’d been living together. It occurs to Pietro that Todd might be a masochist. That, or just lonely since Freddy is asleep and Wanda is god-knows-where.

Todd noticed Pietro shaking. Rather, twitching. A muscle in his cheek was fluttering and his socked toes were twitching, which was usually indicative of an outburst. He wondered what he’d done wrong.

“Are you OK?” Todd asked.

“No,” Pietro admitted without thinking. “Wait, yes,” he corrected quickly, his brow drawing tight. “What?” the platinum blonde hissed.

“I asked ‘f you were OK,” Todd said again, leaning away from the other, doing his best to make it look like he was stretching out to get comfortable, resting his elbow on the arm of the couch.

_What could answering that question honestly hurt?_

_Oh, right. Everything._

“I’m fine, Todd. Just tired,” Pietro answered, letting a little of the truth slip out. Just a little, to gauge the reaction.

“Any particular reason?” Todd asked, looking anywhere but Pietro’s face. He noticed a broken plate on the floor, and in Pietro’s silence Todd realized that had been the sound that had woken him up.

“I just can’t stop thinking,” he said, still flipping through the channels. He’d cycled through the channels at least a dozen times since Todd had come back with his popcorn. He grit his teeth, pissed at himself for giving more information than he wanted to.

“About what?”

“ _Everything_.”

They were silent for another cycle of the channels.

“Ya ever tried anything ta quiet the thoughts?” Todd asked, drawing a knee up to his chest.

“Like what?” Pietro asked, finger stilling above the button.

“Weed helps me,” Todd said.

“Helps you?” Pietro asked, turning to look at the younger mutant.

Todd shrugged weakly. “I’m not sayin’ ‘do that’, I’m just sayin’ that’s what works for me.”

“Forgive me if I have a hard time believing you think too much,” the speedster said with a scoff.

“I wouldn’t say that it’s that I think too much,” Toad said, somewhat relenting to Pietro’s dig, “more like what I think about. Everything is nice and interestin’ and I don’t get sad about stuff when I’m high. Mm, then again, that might be because my sweetie-muffin is always with me, though.” Pietro made a disgusted noise at that. “Just sayin’ you should find something to relax you. Don’t have to be drugs.”

“I think I’ve tried everything that’s not drugs,” Pietro said absently.

“If you want to try it sometime, we can,” Todd offered. “I mean, just you and me. I’ll have to buy some from Wanda first.”

“We’ll see,” Pietro muttered, his eyes darting to the stairs as he heard footsteps.

Lance put his hand over his mouth as he yawned. As he took the last steps and turned toward the kitchen, he gave a lazy morning “hey,” and that was the insomniacs’ clue to start their day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to leave me your thoughts and pointing out my mistakes is encouraged!
> 
> ~JOLT


	4. Chapter 4

Lance sometimes thinks he’s the only normal member of the brotherhood.

Freddy might be OK, he muses to himself as he washes out a bowl for cereal. A little slow, maybe, but at least he doesn’t have Pietro’s daddy issues. Lance understands why Pietro has those issues, what with Magneto as his father – the man _is_ rather terrifying. But, _Jesus Christ_. And Freddy, Pietro too for that matter, doesn’t smell like Todd, who might be fairly normal otherwise. Maybe a little skeevy, maybe a little obsessive, maybe a little bit of a coward – he pours his cereal and snorts. Freddy is bearable. Maybe even nice. He gets along with just about everyone who is nice to him first. He even manages to get along with Pietro when the younger boy is an ass to him.

There’s no milk when he checks the refrigerator, so he shrugs and eats his cereal dry, wishing he’d checked for milk first so he didn’t have to go through the effort of cleaning a bowl.

Lance tries to stay out of Wanda’s way because, yeah, he’s a little bit scared of her abilities. Who in their right mind wouldn’t be? But he knows she’s not a horrible person, either. Just a little socially awkward. He snorts when he thinks about how the skills were divided between the twins; Wanda got most of the power and little to no social skills, while Pietro is quick-witted and silver-tongued and kind of weak when he’s cornered. But, to his credit, he doesn’t get cornered very often.

Lance put the bowl in the sink as Freddy wandered in to forage for breakfast. He thinks going shopping after school might be a good idea. As little as he wants to do it, someone has to be at least somewhat responsible because Mystique sure as hell isn’t doing her job.

He decides to think about it later and lets his mind drift to more pleasant subjects, like when he’ll get to spend some time alone with Kitty next.

Lance took everyone to school. Everyone except Wanda. He wasn’t sure if she was even enrolled or not, but she wasn’t around for a ride so she didn’t get one.

When Todd got home, his ass was still sore and itchy. One of the jocks had picked him up off the ground by his underpants and shoved his breeches so far up his ass in the process that the small mutant could swear he tasted them. It wasn’t a pleasant taste, and it had kinda pinched his balls, too. Even though he hopped off to the bathroom, the chortling of the older boys following him, to fix his underwear, they wouldn’t seem to sit right for the rest of the day. He’d have to change them, and he’d only been wearing them for two days. The dirty blonde liked to wear his undies for a week before changing them, but he feared his newest pair were ruined.

He sighed as he hopped up the stairs four at a time.

In his room, there was a bag on the bare mattress. He stared at it for a second before snatching it up. He looked into the plastic shopping bag with wide eyes, almost expecting a prank from one of the guys. Instead he finds his sheets, clean and folded unevenly. He got excited and pulled them out with a little cheer. About to put the fitted sheet onto the mattress, he noticed a piece of powder blue plastic had fallen out of the sheet-bag.

Deodorant.

Wanda had actually purchased deodorant for him, and he was surprised. Elated! She’d done his laundry, too. Or, his sheets at least.

Tossing the fitted sheet aside, he grabbed the other sheet and wrapped it around himself, taking a deep whiff of its scent. He was determined to commit that scent to memory, lost in the fantasy of Wanda putting the sheets in the dryer. He imagined them both, a little older. He thought of himself a little taller, a little stronger and, sure, maybe a little cleaner, coming home from work and surprising Wanda, in all her gothic glory, with a hug from behind. He made happy noises to himself, all wrapped up in those sheets, oblivious to the outside world.

Then he remembered the deodorant.

The first step to gaining Wanda’s love.

He threw the sheet aside. Then he quickly picked it up, realizing that leaving it on the floor for too long would undo all of Wanda’s work. That _she_ did for _him_. He nearly squealed in his excitement as he made the bed.

He then laid the tube of deodorant on top of the sheets and gave it a determined look.

“Alright, de-odor-ant,” Todd said, splaying his hands on the bed on either side of the little light blue piece of plastic, “you and me? Well, see, we gotta be friends. We gotta work together so I can get my dream girl. Understand?” he asked, and stared at it for a moment as if it would respond, as if it would jump up and slap him. Stranger things had happened.

He noticed then that it was a women’s deodorant. Todd’s shoulders slumped at that. Was Wanda implying that he was too girly, he wondered. Then he noticed, under the name of the scent – powder fresh – he read the words ‘for sensitive skin’, and it occurred to him that the light blue powder fresh tube may have been the only sensitive skin formula she could find. Then he wondered when he’d blabbed about his sensitive skin and felt more than a little embarrassed.

“I’m counting on you,” he said to the tube. “I’m gonna get you a mouthwash buddy when Mystique comes by with our allowances, ‘n’ you’re both gonna help me get the girl.”

“Are you high?” he heard from the doorway. Todd turned wide, terrified eyes up at Pietro. He calmed the slightest bit when he noticed how tired the other looked. He felt a little bad for him, knowing that feeling.

He wasn’t about to mention it, though, as the last time he had, he wound up stuffed in the washing machine. Pietro was very prideful about his appearance.

Todd briefly thought about asking what all the silver-haired boy did to maintain his looks, but shook himself out of it. He wasn’t high maintenance and didn’t want to be. Though, he supposed he could deal with it if he had Wanda.

“Naw,” he finally answered. “Just talking to my new deodorant.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t make you sound high,” Pietro said with a roll of his eyes. He crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe. “Deodorant, huh? Wanda’s trainin’ you up, isn’t she? Why, before you know it, you’ll be a real boy.” His insults were weak, but he was tired.

School had been draining. He’d been cornered in the locker room by some jerks on the basketball team who were pissed at him for showing them up in class. They shouldn’t have expected otherwise. Running was what he did. He could run circles around them in his sleep. That didn’t stop them from trying to bully him out of displaying his ability on the court in class. It wouldn’t work, but he didn’t want to deal with it at the time. Had he been rested, he would have sassed. He would have made them all feel like losers, especially the cutie on the left. He might’ve even shoved him, pulled on his cute, nubbly little ponytail. Instead he ran off to his next class. To a pop-quiz.

“You think so?” Todd asked with a goofy smile.

“That,” Pietro stopped, uncrossing his arms, “wasn’t a compliment.”

“Oh,” Todd said, looking the slightest bit embarrassed. He grabbed the tube and took a deep breath. _For Wanda!_ he thought as he pulled the cap off.

A wad of paper fell out.

Both he and his silver-haired so-called friend stared at it for a moment. Pietro considered snatching it up, but waited instead. Todd took up the paper and straightened it out, a smaller piece of pape falling from it.

Pietro did snatch that up.

He held the joint out, looking at it. It was a fat one. Todd huffed for a second, then turned his attention to the note.

_Thought I’d give you a reward for using the deodorant before I get back, if you do. I’m swinging by to pick up some clothes later, but I’m going to stay with my father for a couple of days, so make that last and don’t fall off the damn roof again._

“She cares about me,” Todd said, hugging the note to his chest.

“Of course people care about their pets,” Pietro muttered, earning himself a weak glare from Todd. “Sorry,” he said, sounding anything but. “Gonna let me try this tonight?” he asked.

The dirty blonde blinked in surprise when Pietro handed it to him instead of playing keep away with it.

“Uh, yeah,” Todd said, plucking the blunt out from between Pietro’s fingers. “I’m gonna mix it with some tobacco, though. Just, uh, let me put on this deodorant and change my underpants real quick.”

“Oh, that’s right! You got a big ol’ wedgie today, didn’t you?” He held his hands up in mock surrender when Todd pout-glared at him. “Alright, alright, I get it. You don’t want to talk about your butthurt. I’ll go see what munchies we got. Yell for me when you’re ready,” he said, speeding off before the sentence was even finished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost every version of Pietro that I've come up against has struck me as a closeted homosexual. Calling Todd "pork boy", his "limp wrist" comments in Ultimate (I think it was Ultimate, don't quote me on that). He's hiding something.
> 
> Leave me your thoughts and point out any mistakes.
> 
> ~JOLT


	5. Chapter 5

“’Ey, Pietro,” Todd called out. He flinched when he turned to find the other boy behind him with a bag of chips and a couple cans of soda dangling from his finger by plastic rings.

“Yo,” the silver-haired mutant teased, dumping the items pilfered from the cabinets on the bed. “So, let’s try it. I need to make up for the lost sleep last night,” the speedster said, perching himself on the edge of Todd’s bed, rubbing his hands together excitedly. He was looking forward to slowing down for a few minutes.

“Yeah, alright,” Todd said, holding up the tobacco-marijuana joint he’d rolled. He got comfortable as he put the paper to his lips, curling his legs up against his chest. He had ditched his shoes before he’d even sat, and curled his toes in the fresh sheet.

“Is there any special thing I’m supposed to do? Like, a way to smoke it?” Pietro asked, watching Todd light the weed-cigarette. The dirty blonde puffed a few times, until the flame caught and kept. Then he took a long pull on the thing, holding up one finger of his free hand.

“You don’t have to,” Todd said, his voice the slightest bit strained as smoke leaked out of the corners of his too-wide mouth. “In fact, I probably wouldn’t recommend it for you. Just-“ he stopped talking for a second to let out his breath in a big huff, smoke billowing out and curling up between them “-take a drag, hold it fer a few seconds and let it out.”

“You know I have a killer metabolism, right?” Pietro asked, watching the joint nervously as Todd sucked on it again. “If I get high at all, I doubt it’ll last longer than a few seconds.”

“No kiddin’?” Todd asked, looking the older boy’s torso up and down, making Pietro feel uncomfortable. He was well aware of his thin waist, but at least, he thought, his shoulders and chest had started to fill out a bit. It gave him what he thought was a comfortably masculine appearance, but he was still self-conscious that he may be too thin. He worried that people could see the bony shoulders that had once been. That people could see how his chest used to practically be concave before he started swiping other kids’ lunches, before he started a nightly regiment of push-ups.

He also couldn’t help wondering if the look Todd was giving him was an appreciative one, rather than one of jealousy. His upper lip curled upward at the thought. He shifted uncomfortably, irritably, and bit his tongue against the insults bubbling up his throat.

_He’s not the gay one_ his mind unhelpfully supplied.

“Still,” Todd continued, finally pulling Pietro out of his own head, “I’d take it easy yer first time if I were you. See how it effects ya.” The curled over young man held out the smoking paper, brows raised at the other.

A joke about Todd being a virgin was on the tip of his tongue, but the speedster squashed it with smoke. He took a deep breath of the substance and held it for a few seconds, just like the other had suggested. He let it out and looked up and to his right. Then to the left. He held the cigarette out between his fore and middle finger for a few seconds.

“Nothing,” Pietro said. “It must be defective.” _Or I am, whichever_ , he thought.

“Relax, ‘Tro,” Todd said, taking the joint back. “It takes a few minutes. Just sit back, have yer soda ‘r som’n.” He put the paper to his lips and sucked, inhaled.

Three times.

Pietro opened his soda and made an annoyingly loud slurping noise. He hid his smirk in the can when Todd rolled his eyes. Todd gave a quiet, surprised “thanks” when the older boy offered him the other soda. They exchanged aluminum for paper and the speedster took another drag. He cleared his mouth of the taste of the smoke with his soda immediately after.

The silence that followed made Pietro bounce his leg. He was used to Todd being chatty and goofy, and when those traits were absent, something felt off. “You feelin’ it yet, man?” Todd asked, and the platinum blonde frowned.

“No,” he answered, and Todd handed him the joint again.

A few minutes later, a haze did start to creep in. Pietro started to get a little excited about the feeling, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. He held his breath for a short moment, letting it out slowly as he felt something akin to a caress on his back. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling like one of his silver medal girls resting their hand on his back, but rather it felt like someone was trying to tickle him and he couldn’t get away from it. The pleasant haze started to feel suffocating, or at least like it was crowding in on him as he shifted about, trying to get away from the sensation of the skin on his back crawling.

He looked to Todd to see if this was normal, if he too felt uncomfortably itchy before the lazy goodness set in, and found the younger boy reading the back of a chip bag while he nibbled on a few of the greasy treats.

“It’s a wonder I’m not fat,” Todd said, giving the bag a little squeeze to hear it crinkle.

“What?” Pietro asked quietly. This made Todd look up. He grinned.

“It’s working, ey? I was saying,” Todd started, holding out the bag for Pietro, “it’s a wonder I’m not fat with how bad for ya these things are.” Pietro turned the snacks away with a rushed shake of his head and folded his hands in his lap. “Hey, man,” Todd said, setting the bag aside. “Are you OK?”

Pietro hunched his shoulders. _Say yes. Say yes. Say yes. You’re fine. There’s nothing wrong. Say something. Say something._ “Yeah,” he finally muttered, eyes darting to Todd to look for a reaction, then away, then back, then away again. He didn’t want to see the other’s reaction. But he did.

“You don’t have to talk, ya know,” Todd offered, setting the chips aside when Pietro didn’t take any. “You can just lay back and relax if ya want. Sheets are clean,” he said, almost in a sing-song voice, wiggling his toes in the blue material. “’S cool. The first time I smoked I didn’t talk for ‘bout half ‘n hour. I just sat there and was fascinated by the carpet. I didn’ even eat the fly that kept landing on my hand.”

Pietro watched Todd finish off the last of the joint, mesmerized by how the dirty blonde looked in that moment. When he couldn’t see the yellow teeth, with his eyes lidded and dark, looking like he was wearing makeup, with his hair straight and dry and almost-clean, Toad looked like a rock star. Well, Pietro corrected himself, more like the bassist that only hardcore fans even recognize, but good e-damn-nough. He had to wonder, if Todd looked so normal, maybe even mildly attractive in this relaxed state, why he wasn’t high all the time. The other seemed to like the feeling, even if Pietro was itchy and nervous and worried that he was rambling about his appraisal of Todd’s appearance out loud, and he didn’t seem so, and Pietro’s thoughts cut out for a moment as he watched smoke curl up from Todd’s nostrils, goofy, like he usually did. Todd could get a girl like this, he was sure of it. Maybe not Wanda, but _a_ girl, at least.

Hell, if he hadn’t known just how disgusting the younger boy was, he might’ve been interested. Interested enough, that is, to pull his hair and push him to the ground and sling even more sexuality-related insults at him. Maybe not interested enough to slip his hand into his boxers on lonely nights while thinking about him, like he did with Evan and Lance and the long-haired boy on the basketball team and the linebacker with the perfect teeth and the sparkling, joyful eyes, but enough that he might get a half-chub from walking in on the other in the bathroom, in the shower.

“I-“ Pietro started, wanting to justify himself, explain that he wasn’t gay no matter what he’d said. It was just the weed, he’d say, if he could open his mouth. He’d ask Todd not to make fun of him, not to tell the others. Threaten, and if that didn’t work, beg.

“Y’alright?” Todd asked, stretching out his legs. He rolled his head in an attempt to pop his neck, shoulders relaxing at the crack. Pietro jumped at the immense sigh of relief from the younger boy.

_So I didn’t say any of that out loud?_ He blinked a few times, hyperaware of how much he was blinking, but unable to stop it.

“Why don’t ya lay back? Best get stuck in a more comfortable position,” Todd suggested.

“No, I’m fine here,” Pietro blurted.

“Suit yourself,” Todd said with a shrug. He stubbed the tiny scrap of paper out on the bedside stand and got comfortable against the wall.

Pietro just stared at the floor between his feet, unable to shake, but feeling like he was quivering all over.

“I see you put the deodorant on already,” they heard from the doorway. Pietro shut his eyes against that voice, listening to Todd’s excited gasp.

“Sure did, sugar-bear,” he said, climbing off of the bed. Pietro jolted at the movement. He squeezed his eyes shut tighter. “Wanna smell me?” Todd asked, holding up one arm.

Wanda snorted. “No,” she said, though her voice turned up in a questioning lilt.

“Come on, babe, I’m powdah fresh!”

With a roll of her eyes, Wanda relented. “Eh,” she said, “it’s better than before, but shower first next time.”

“Aw, man,” Todd groaned. “You mean I gotta shower every day now?”

“ _At least_ every other day,” she said, bringing up her hands to rest them on her hips. “What’s wrong with him?” she asked, inclining her head toward Pietro.

“I think he’s stuck,” Todd said, shrugging sluggishly.

“Aww,” Wanda said, an amused grin stretching over her lips. She reached out with one hand to pat her brother’s hair, not noticing the way he flinched. “Todd popped your pot-cherry, huh?” Pietro swallowed thickly at those words, not liking the sound of them.

_Wanda knows, now Magneto will know, and he’ll be pissed. But I can always tell him about what she does, so she won’t tell, right? How does she know I found Todd attractive for a moment there? Maybe she sees it too when she’s high. Is she going to tell dad that I like men? How much worse is he going to take that than Wanda smoking pot and cuddling with Toad? Why does this shit always happen to me? I didn’t mean for this to happen. I shouldn’t have done this. I should leave. Go to my room and try to sleep and pretend this didn’t happen._

“Yeah, he’s stuck,” she said with a darkly amused chuckle. “I almost want to take a picture to tease him with later,” she said, turning to Todd. She could feel the violent way he pulled away from her touch then. “Oh, relax,” she groused, “I’m not _that_ mean.” Putting her hand back on her hip, she turned toward the door. “Anyway,” she said with a dismissive wave of one hand, “I was just stopping in to say ‘hey’, so I’m going to get going. You boys have fun,” she said and playfully blew a kiss.

Todd thought he was melting into the floor as he imagined the kiss in the form of a heart, lazily wafting through the air toward him. He slumped against the bed with a lazy smile.

“See you in a couple days,” Wanda said from the doorway. “Don’t let him drown in his own spit,” she added before walking off.

“I’ll take good care of your brother, pookie,” Todd promised.

“Don’t call me that!” his love called from down the hallway.

A minute later, Pietro drew a shuddering breath. It drew Todd’s attention and his hooded eyes widened at the quiet, broken way the older boy asked

“Is she gone?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TMI/Fun Fact time! Every time I've smoked weed, I've either had the paranoia reaction and an upset stomach or violent projectile vomiting, like of The Exorcist variety. I clearly haven't done it in many years, but I think I remember enough of the paranoia to translate it to Pietro. If you don't think I'm making the pot-induced paranoia come across very well, leave me a comment with what you think I could do better. 
> 
> ~JOLT
> 
> P.S. I support the legalization of pot, even if my body reacts as if it is allergic to it.


	6. Chapter 6

_Unfortunately_ was going to be Todd’s answer, but when he saw that Pietro was tugging at his own hair, he simply answered with “yeah, she’s gone.” He sat next to Pietro and put a hand on his back. “Are you OK ma-“

“Don’t touch me!” Pietro bit out, jerking away from the other’s touch. “Sorry,” he hissed out when he realized the younger mutant looked hurt. Todd’s eyes widened.

“Ohh,” he drawled when it dawned on him.

“What?” Pietro demanded, eyes wide.

“Ah, well,” He started, hunching his shoulders, drawing his legs up onto the bed. “Well, some people get a little paranoid when they smoke. Different things can happen based on how ya feel goin’ in. So, uh, just try to relax. It’ll pass, alright?” When Pietro didn’t say anything, Todd tried something else. “Can I put my hand on yer back, ‘Tro?”

The other took his hands from his hair, folding them in his lap again. He turned only his head and looked at Todd for what he felt was entirely too long. He swallowed thickly and wondered where his soda went.

“Yeah, sure,” he permitted.

Todd’s hand felt a lot better than the skin-crawling sensation, which made the platinum blonde giggle as being touched by Toad would usually produce a skin-crawling sensation in him.

“Tick-lish?” Todd asked, his accent breaking up the word awkwardly. He smiled at Pietro’s reaction, thinking it was a good one.

“Not really,” Pietro said quietly. “My back just feels better than it did before with your hand there.”

The admission made Todd blink.

“Oh,” Todd said, wondering why his face was heating as though he were blushing. “Well, uh, glad I could help.”

“Soda?”

“Huh?”

“Do you know where my soda is?” Pietro whispered.

“Oh, yeah. One sec,” Todd said, reaching toward the floor. Pietro stiffened. “Just getting’ your soda, buddy,” Todd said, picking up the can.

“Don’t patronize me,” Pietro said, though his voice lacked the venom a statement like that would normally have. He took the soda and just held it.

“Not tryin’a,” Todd said, running his hand up and down the taller mutant’s back. “Maybe you’ll feel a bit better if you talk about what’s botherin’ ya,” the dirty blonde offered. “Get it out so you can just enjoy it. The high, I mean.”

“Can’t,” Pietro said, giving the minutest shake of his head.

“Why not?”

“Because you’ll just go and tell everyone. Because you’ll have dirt on me and you’ll want to knock me off what you think is the top,” Pietro said breathlessly.

“You really think that little of me, man?” In lieu of a response, Pietro merely drew his brows together. “Look, if it’s something really big, I won’t tell anyone. Now, if it’s something like those pink briefs you had-“

“Colors ran in the laundry!” Pietro interrupted, finally feeling on the level with time. At least enough to interrupt.

“Sure they did,” Todd teased. “But really, whatever it is, you can talk to me.

“After all, we’re going to be in-laws someday.”

“What?” Pietro asked, one brow trying to meet his hairline. He finally found himself able to drink, chugging a good portion of his soda.

“When I marry Wanda, duh,” Todd said.

Pietro spit his soda everywhere.

“Hey, hey, watch the sheets!”

“You are _not_ marrying my sister,” Pietro said.

“I don’t think you get any say in that, man,” Todd said, a sly smile on his too-wide mouth.

“No, but Wanda does. So does our father,” Pietro pointed out, glaring into his soda can. Talking was making him feel better. Talking about Todd, that is. Verbally kicking him to keep him away. “You think he won’t kill your ass if Wanda starts to like you back?”

Toad gulped. “You don’t really think he’d _kill_ me, do ya?”

“Yeah,” Pietro answered quickly, with certainty. The haze was starting to lift just a bit, the paranoia ebbing. He actually felt pretty good at that moment, though he knew he’d regret what he was saying later. He drank more of the bitter-sweet liquid before he continued; “If he doesn’t think you’re good enough for her, which I know for a fact that he wouldn’t. Hell, someone as good as me wouldn’t be good enough for her. Not Lance or Freddy, either. Hell, I can’t think of a single person Magneto would approve of dating her.

“I doubt he’d care who I dated, though, unless I dated like, Lance or Freddy, but that’s beside the point.”

“Well, Lance is taken,” Todd said, and nodded his head from side to side for a moment, “most of the time, anyway.” He then looked back to Pietro with an almost-innocent look of curiosity. “You’d date Freddy?” he asked.

“No!” Pietro said, a look of absolute disgust contorting his features. “Ew, god, no,” he repeated. “That’s not what I meant, Todd, and I’m pretty sure even your tiny brain could figure that out.”

“Well, yeah. You’re saying your dad isn’t down with the whole ‘gay’ thing. Who cares, man? He’s got another straight kid to give him grandkids, with me, so why does he need them from you?”

“I’m not gay, Todd,” Pietro growled, grinding his teeth after. “It was just an example. And how can you be so casual about this?!” he shrieked, voice cracking.

Todd blinked, confused. “Why should I care who you bang?”

“Mm, good point,” Pietro acquiesced. “But I’m _not_ gay, Todd,” he said, making a point of saying the other’s name so the idea stuck with him.

“Alright, alright, I believe you,” Todd said, holding his hands up in surrender.

“I don’t want you running around, spreading rumors. Got it?”

“A’course,” Todd said and turned to roll himself a cigarette. “So tell me, would ya,” and he stopped for a moment to lick the paper’s adhesive. Pietro was surprised he didn’t slobber all over the thing, rather he was offered only a tiny peek of the other’s green tongue. It was almost cute. Almost. “What do I need to do to win Magneto’s favor?”

“Hell if I know. I’ve been trying to figure that out for years,” Pietro said with a sigh. Todd sighed as well as he lit his smoke. “That have weed in it?” Pietro asked.

“Yeah,” Todd said, his eyes drooping slightly. He looked sad to Pietro, and the platinum blonde wondered if that was why he was lighting up another joint. “I wouldn’t think you’d want any more since you freaked out a little bit.”

“That was a fluke. It actually felt pretty good there for a minute, after I calmed down. I’m good right now, so I think it’ll be better and I can go get some-“

“Come help with the groceries!” Lance shouted from the front door, making both Todd and Pietro’s eyes widen. Todd took a few more quick puffs off the joint, then passed it over to Pietro.

“I got this,” Todd said. “Finish that and try ta get some sleep.”

Pietro took the joint and watched Toad hop out of the room, not in any particular hurry, blinking. His eyes fluttered a few more times before he put the paper to his lips and inhaled.

When Todd returned to his room he found Pietro reclining against the wall in the place he usually sat. The platinum blonde idly wiggled his socked toes, and he inclined his head in greeting when Todd hopped over. Toad found that about of the third of the cigarette he’d rolled was left, so he lit it.

“Scoot over,” he said. Pietro rolled his eyes but did as told. “How’re you feelin’?”

“Pretty OK,” Pietro answered with an amused snort.

“Well, it’s better than bein’ all paranoid, right?” he asked, snuffing the cherry on polished wood.

“Yup,” Pietro said simply.

“Well, maybe you should try to catch up on sleep. That’s what I’m gonna do,” Todd said, curling up on his side.

“I don’t wanna move,” Pietro whined, snorting.

“Don’t. Stay here. I don’t give a shit,” Todd muttered, closing his eyes.

“OK,” Pietro said, and started to move.

When the older boy was still moving several seconds later, Todd cracked an eye open.

“What’re ya doin’?”

“Shouldn’t we lay head-to-foot if we’re going to be in the same bed?” Pietro asked.

“Why would we do that? ‘Sides, don’t think you want your nose near muh feet, yo,” Todd said with a chuckle. “’Ere’s nothin’ gay about sleeping.” He snorted rather loud when Pietro just flopped down.

The platinum haired youth laid on his back, one hand draped over his slender stomach delicately, the other thrown over his forehead. A moment of comfortable silence fell over the two. Pietro, though he was finally starting to grow drowsy, had to break it.

“So, it really wouldn’t bother you if I were gay?”

“Naw, man,” Todd answered, then yawned.

“Cool,” Pietro said, finding himself with an honest smile on his face. Not a devious smirk, nor a wry grin, but a pleased smile. He wasn’t elated, or even experiencing what he’d call ‘joy’, but he was content. He let his arm slip from his forehead to cover his eyes as he started to nod off. Then a sudden thought made him throw out one last thought; “but I’m not. I mean, just so you know.”

“Go to sleep, Pietro.”


	7. Chapter 7

Todd cooed happily at the feeling of waking to an arm wrapped around him. That is, until he realized just who it belonged to. His cooing turned into an irritated huff when he noticed the hand pressed against his stomach was far too masculine to be Wanda’s and far too thin, too elegant to be Freddy’s.

_Wrong Maximoff again_ , he groused internally. He didn’t move, though, for fear of waking the speedster and invoking his wrath.

He wasn’t entirely opposed to snuggling with Pietro. What he was opposed to was being called names for the other’s actions. He knew he’d be blamed for the platinum blonde spooning up behind him. Somehow, he figured, the older blonde would find a way to make it his fault.

So he waited.

He enjoyed the feeling of a body pressed against his back and, though he was a little disappointed by the lack of curves there, Todd had to admit that the other’s body fit against his nicely. Pietro’s breath tickling the back of his neck made it difficult not to squirm, but it was warm, intimate. He found it pleasant in the most unexpected way. He could feel the slow rise and fall of the broad chest, and Todd never thought he’d associate the word ‘slow’ with anything Pietro did, but the other’s breath was long and deep and heavy. It was the kind of breathing that came from the kind of sleep that one only entered after smoking a joint or having a stiff drink – chemically relaxing.

When Pietro woke, his breath caught. Todd fought the urge to stiffen and did his best to pretend to be asleep. A curse was muttered into his hair before the taller boy moved his head back. He drew his hand back slowly, passing over Todd’s jutting hipbone in the process.

“Damn, you’re bone-thin,” Pietro muttered, rucking the other’s shirt up to get a look at the dangerously thin feeling waist. “Eh,” he said, rubbing his fingers over the hip and stomach, finding that it wasn’t as bad as he had originally suspected, even finding himself the tiniest bit amused that Todd had a pinch of baby fat just under his navel. He then snorted and yanked his hand away. “What am I doing?” is what Todd thought he said, and soon felt a gust of wind at his back as Pietro darted away and out the door.

The young mutant was a little disappointed at the lack of the comfort provided by another warm body in his cold bed, but he simply heaved a sigh and looked over at his dusty, old digital alarm clock. When he found it facing away he turned it toward himself. Upon seeing that it was nowhere near time to get up, he scooted into the warm spot Pietro left, pulled his clean sheet over himself – smiling, remembering the nice thing Wanda did for him as he smelled the sheets – and tried to go back to sleep.

True to her word, Wanda returned two days later.

Immediately upon returning, she started teasing Pietro about his first experience with weed. She reached out to ruffle his hair right after dropping her backpack by the door. She managed to just barely mess up his hair before he darted away.

“Hey, hey!” Pietro screeched, running a hand through his hair to smooth it back into place. “Watch the hair,” he said, narrowing his eyes a bit. “Wanna see how you like it?” the platinum blonde asked, thrusting his hand toward his sister’s dark locks.

He was blasted into the wall before he could get within half a foot of her head.

“Sweetie!” Toad cried out, hopping down the stairs. He bounded over to the young woman and he too was blasted into a different wall. Wanda looked surprised at her own actions.

“Oh, sorry,” she said with an amused scoff. “My dumbass brother was trying to mess up my hair and I was a bit on edge.”

“Me, a dumbass?” Pietro mumbled. Wanda rolled her eyes at the comment.

“You smoke everything I gave you?” she asked Todd, putting a hand on her hip.

“Yes, doll,” Todd answered, hopping over to sit at her knee with a loopy grin on his face.

“I think that’s my least favorite of the pet names you’ve given me. Don’t _ever_ call me that. I’m no one’s doll. Not even the hottest man on the planet could call me ‘ _doll_ ’,” she said with her lip turned up in a disgusted near-snarl. At Todd’s kicked-puppy look and immediate apology, she softened. “It’s fine. Just don’t do it again.” She turned toward the door to grab her bag. “I’m going to go put my shit away. Then, if you smell good enough, we can go smoke. Dad gave me a book I think we might enjoy while high.”

With that, she jerked her bag onto her shoulder and headed for the stairs. Three stepped up, she turned to look at her brother, who had resumed his position on the couch, flipping through channels and said;

“If you want to join us, you can.”

Pietro looked up. He looked to consider it for the briefest of moments, then scoffed.

“And get picked on some more? No thanks.”

“Suit yourself,” Wanda said with a shrug and took off up the stairs.

“Your room or mine, honey-buns?” Todd asked, leaping after her, taking the stairs four at a time. He shrieked and tumbled down half the stairwell, the victim of a – surprisingly week – energy blast.

“Don’t say it like that!” Wanda raised her voice.

Pietro rolled his eyes and leaned back on the couch, trying to make himself comfortable. Rapid-fire thoughts kept him from achieving his long sought after comfort. He couldn’t help but feel pity, not that he wanted to, for Todd, who was picking himself up off the floor with a smile on his face. He couldn’t help but think that Toad was the type who’d enjoy an abusive relationship, the type who would smile after being given a black eye or a split lip. He grimaced and tried to turn the runaway train that was his thoughts elsewhere. It didn’t work.

“You a masochist?” he asked.

“A what?” Todd asked, his voice sounding far away.

“Masochist. It means-“

“I know what it means, I just didn’t hear you. Wasn’ really payin’ attention,” Todd admitted. “And no, I don’t like pain. That’s weird.”

Pietro laughed. “Sure seems like you do, chasing after a girl that doesn’t want you. That keeps – violently, might I add – pushing you away,” he said trying to seem nonchalant with a lazy shrug of his shoulders. “But, I mean, if you wanna get your little webbed heart broken, keep chasing Wanda. Just don’t come running to me when she really breaks your heart.” He turned his attention back to the TV and flipped through channels, looking for something mind-numbing.

“My heart ain’t webbed,” Todd complained under his breath. Pietro couldn’t help smirking at the whiny utterance. “At least, I don’t think it is.” The way Todd put a hand to his chest made the older boy snort. “And I will win her over. I just gotta be minty fresh and suave and shit,” he said, slicking his hair back.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” Pietro said before turning the volume up on some cartoons he found, and considered playing music instead.

Todd grumbled and hopped off up the stairs, going to his room to get the mouthwash he’d bought. He headed to the upstairs bathroom and swished the green liquid around in his mouth for a moment before spitting it in the sink. He stuck out his tongue, making a pained face, panting and whining at the burning sensation. _For love!_ he told himself.

“Mouthwash!” he heard from the doorway, and turned to find Wanda. She was leaning casually against the doorframe with her arms loosely crossed. “What’s the occasion?” she asked, smirking.

“I was hopin’ we could cuddle,” he said, pink tinting the bridge of his nose, hunching his shoulders. He looked up and batted his lashes, smiling awkwardly. Wanda scoffed.

“We’ll see,” she said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the delay, but school and Ohayocon have me running around like a chicken with it's head cut off.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's some heterosexins in this chapter. Have fun reading a (mostly) gay guy's attempt at writing cunnilingus.

Half an hour later, Todd found himself wrapped halfway wound around a laughing Wanda. He had one leg hooked over one of hers and his arm slung over her stomach, tugging lightly at her shirt and a goofy grin on his face. The immense joy he felt was almost paralyzing, and the weed wasn’t helping as he was in complete and total bliss; he’d told a smart joke – or, well, at least one that seemed smart to his relaxed darling – and she was laughing, smiling. Letting him press in close to her.

His skin was dry and cracked from actually using soap in his two extra showers, but the pain was worth it.

In a way, the pain of his skin cracking open was worse than the bruises he’d get from the constant falling he did and throwing he was victim to. It was constant, and his healing factor apparently didn’t help it go away faster. He’d bled for the first time that morning, and when Wanda had blasted him the same cut had been pried open.

But it was all worth it for the scent of something vanilla on her neck and her dark, lavender scented locks tickling his nose.

“Hey, so, uh, you ever used that tongue on anyone?” Wanda asked.

“Yeah,” Todd said, his tone ticking up at the end to phrase it like a question. “You’ve seen me in battle, ain’t’cha?” he asked.

Wanda smirked devilishly. “That’s not what I meant,” she said lowly.

“Then,” Todd paused for a second, pulling back from her neck to look up at that almost charming grin, “what? How do ya mean?”

“Ya know, like,” she said with a shrug, then brought two fingers to her lips and stuck her tongue out between them. Todd’s eyes widened and a blush rose to the bridge of his nose.

Part of him wanted to lie and tell his _Schnookums_ that he had plenty of experience with clit-lickin’, but he also couldn’t help but wonder if Wanda would want to be his first if he in-fact told the truth.

“I’ll take your silence as a ‘no’,” Wanda said.

“Well, ah mean, it’s not like I ain’t thought about it. Just been no one I was interested in ‘til you came along, Sweets.”

“Hm,” Wanda said in an amused snort. “Wanna try it? I’m curious, and you’ve done a good job keeping yourself clean lately, so I’m not worried about getting a yeast infection from your usual filth, so,” she trailed off, giving a loose shrug.

“Yeah!” Todd cheered, then shrunk back, thinking looking too enthusiastic before she even got her pants off might scare Wanda off. Instead, she chuckled and reached for the button of her jeans.

“You move. I’m about stuck,” she said with yet another snort, a breathy one as she tried to lift one leg.

When Todd crawled to the foot of his bed, Wanda weakly pushed a booted foot in his face and he looked up at her, confused.

“Take my shoe off,” she ordered. “How am I supposed to get my pants off with my shoe still on?”

“Point, I guess,” he said, and set webbed fingers to all the snaps, belts and zippers on those tall, gorgeous boots of Wanda’s that he admired so much.

After setting them both carefully on the floor, he took one of Wanda’s socked feet in his hands and found himself amused by her red, white and black argyle patterned knee-length-socks as he started digging his thumbs into the soles of her feet. His cock jumped to attention at the appreciative moan Wanda let out. His length stiffened against his zipper as he rubbed her foot, soaking up the groans of pleasure.

“Fuck,” she groaned, “I might be able to get off from just this.”

“Really?” Todd asked, his eyes lighting up, brows raising.

“No,” Wanda said with a snort, taking one foot back, pressing the other into his hands while she tried to shimmy out of her tight jeans. She stopped with them just below her knees, getting lost in the massaging of the tension from the feet that were abused on a daily basis by heavy, heeled boots. “Yes,” she hissed, and Todd barely held back his snort.

After a few minutes, she kicked him away and pulled one leg from her pants, leaving them to hang off of one ankle for ease of finding them when they were done – or out of hazy laziness – any reason worked at the moment.

Todd was delighted by the spread milky-white thighs and not at all surprised by black panties. When he reached for the waist band of the tiny garment, Wanda stopped him with a

“No. Start on the outside.”

“Ya want me to, uh, lick yer panties?” he asked, though he couldn’t say his cock was exactly opposed to the idea. They looked good against her skin, a lovely, almost sexy contrast.

“Start with that, yeah,” she said. “Build up to it. Geez,” she said with a lazy roll of her eyes.

“Sorry,” Todd mumbled, staring down at the cotton. Face to face with one of the objects of his desire, the other’s being Wanda’s heart and good will, nerves started to set in. His erection flagged a bit, though out of nervousness and not for lack of desire. Blood was needed in other parts of his body aside from his prick to deal with the sudden bout of nervousness.

He pressed his closed lips and nose along her labia over the cotton and gave a soft kiss to the indent he found, assuming Wanda’s gasp was a positive thing. He kissed again and gave a gentle suck to whatever it was he found there and nudged his nose up into the folds, rubbing her clit without intending to.

“Yes, yes,” she said, one hand coming down to his hair to hold him in place. “Do that. Keep doing that, just push with your tongue. Long and flat,” she guided.

Todd followed her orders, licking a stripe along the cotton.

“ _Harder_ ,” she growled and Todd’s nervousness started to ebb, his cock once more interested in the goings on, thickening and filling with blood.

The smell wasn’t all that pleasant, but he’d smelled worse. He’d smelled worse himself.

He spread his own legs and humped into the mattress while delving into the moistening cotton with his lips and tongue. Wanda’s moaning urged him on. Her hand holding his head in place wasn’t exactly discouraging, either. He felt a rare surge of pride at finding a use for his mutation that had caused him nothing but pain since childhood, and finding that he had the ability to reduce his heart’s desire to a squirming, sticky puddle of goo wasn’t bad either.

He took a hand from where he’d rested it on her thigh to palm his length through his jeans, slipping his hand between himself and the mattress so he could get a bit more friction. He jerked back when he heard a terrified shriek from the doorway. Both looked to the doorway, Wanda’s tight grip tearing out a small handful of dirty blonde hairs.

“Close the god damn door, you fucking exhibitionists!” Pietro shouted, his voice still higher than its usual pitch. The silver-haired boy glared, and at Todd, too, his expression growing darker as Todd looked more and more confused.

“I-“ Todd started, Wanda’s laughter cutting him off.

An angry blush broke out over Pietro’s entire face and neck and he looked away as Wanda stood from the bed. She slipped her other leg back into her pants and pulled them up. She buttoned them and reached down to ruffle Todd’s hair before picking up her shoes. She started out of the room, past Pietro, leaning in to whisper as she walked by;

“You’re just jealous because I got him first.”

“I’m not fucking jealous that you got _Todd_ ,” he hissed back.

“Mm, you should be,” she said, wriggling her eyebrows lazily before tittering and walking off.

Pietro looked back to Todd, seething. He was more pissed at himself than the younger blonde, but he needed an outlet for his rage. He didn’t know what to do with the realization that he would’ve liked to have been in Wanda’s place. It soured his stomach.

Todd had finally started to comprehend everything that had happened, and he registered his muscles tensing as he started to sober up. He sighed, lamenting his poor, confused cock.

“I’ve got a roachie if you want me to mix it with tobacco and share it,” Todd offered, sitting at the edge of the bed, wondering why he wasn’t pissed at Pietro for interrupting. If he was honest with himself, he wasn’t as into the act as he wanted to be. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to pleasure Wanda, it was just that he wanted to take her out on a date first. Kiss her, play with her breasts, teasingly run blunt nails over her ticklish stomach, over the ticklish spot at the back of her neck first. He wanted her heart to be in it, but instead he was being used again.

“I don’t want to share anything with you after your mouth was on my sister’s cunt,” Pietro spat. He glared for a few seconds longer before speeding off.

“I think people are lying when they say misery loves company,” Todd muttered, regret setting in.


	9. Chapter 9

“Tell me something, would ya,” Pietro started, three days since the last time he spoke to Todd, standing in the younger mutant’s doorway with his arms crossed, “what exactly do you like about my sister?”

“What?” Todd asked, sitting up from where he’d curled in around his knees, a half-tobacco joint between his fingers.

“I asked what you like about my sister, dipshit,” Pietro said, zooming in. He tapped the top of Todd’s head with his knuckles. “I know there’s _something_ in there,” he groused.

“That’s the first thing you say to me?” Todd asked, looking up through his bangs.

Pietro had been about to speed back to the doorway, but stopped, one knee on the bed. One arm hung limply at his side and the other was loosely curled up near his chest where he’d drawn it back from knocking on the other’s head, and he stared at Todd. After a few seconds he raised a brow. “What?”

Todd twiddled the unlit paper between his fingers, letting out a quiet huff before he tossed it none-too-gently at the bedside stand. “Maybe you could start with ‘Sorry fer interuptin’ you ‘n’ Wanda the other day,’ or ‘hey, Todd! How’s school?’” The shorter mutant gave a half-hearted glare up at the taller teen.

After a moment of stunned silence, Pietro started, “Well, first of all, I’m not sorry for interrupting you two.” He jabbed a finger in Todd’s general direction. “I’m sorry that I had to _see_ that,” he clarified, splaying his arms for a moment before returning to his accusatory gesture, “but I’m saving your ass by keeping you from her. If you want to get your ass killed, be my freaking guest.

“I also know how you’re doing in school, _Todd_. I know how all of The Brotherhood is doing in school. You and Freddy are just barely getting by – though he’s doing surprisingly well in shop and I guess you’re doing OK in English, which is super surprising – and Lance is stunningly average. I’m the only one here with decent grades, thanks,” Pietro concluded with a huff.

Todd sighed and gave a half roll of his eyes.

“So, are you going to answer my question or not?” Pietro asked, impatiently tapping his foot, not satisfied with the lack of sound it made on the carpeted floor. He crossed his arms again and leaned his thigh against the bedside stand, staring down at the dirty blonde.

“Wha- Oh, right,” Todd said, his words trailing off into a too-wide smile. “She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met, Pietro.” When the white haired mutant scoffed, Todd pout-glared up at him. “Do you want to know or not?” he groused.

“Yeah, whatever, go on,” Pietro said.

“She’s just so gorgeous,” the shorter boy said, his smile returning. “So sweet and kind, and she-”

“Sweet?” Pietro nearly squeaked in his effort not to laugh. “What kinda rose colored glasses are you looking at the world through? Is Freddy fit? Is Lance in a healthy relationship? Am I _nice_?”

“You can be if you want to,” Todd said with a shrug.

Pietro stared at Todd for a long moment before one corner of his mouth quirked up. “Maybe I was wrong when I said there was something in that head of yours. If there is something there, it’s fucked up.”

“You asked, ‘n’ I answered,” Todd said, a weak glare taking over his tired features. “So, whaddya really want? The antenna out again?” the blonde asked as he stood. He brushed tobacco flakes off of his hoodie and stuffed his hands in the pockets.

“Yeah, it is,” Pietro admitted, “but I wasn’t gonna ask you to fix it just yet. I’m not bored enough to watch TV. At least, not at the moment.”

“But you’re bored enough to harass me about your sister?”

“Well,” Pietro said, uncrossing his arms to place his hands on his hips. “I can’t get that disgusting image out of my head, you know.” Todd looked up at the other, blinking slowly. “I’m not sure if I’m more disgusted by you being a little slut or by my sister risking an infection by fucking your face,” he hissed.

“So, you’re jealous,” Todd said with a small smirk.

Pietro let a disgusted noise pass his lips.

“Now why would I be jealous?” the silver haired boy asked, and his eyes widened a fraction before he quickly added, “and just who would I be jealous of?”

“Both of us, duh,” Todd said, as if it were the simplest, most obvious answer. “We’re both getting some and you’re not?” The younger boy didn’t sound as sure, as confident as he’d intended to, but didn’t let that deter him from puffing out his chest the slightest bit.

“Uh, no,” Pietro started and squeaked out a nasally little laugh, “no, no, no, no.” He held up one hand in Todd’s face. “Maybe- oh, and that’s a big _maybe_ I’m the tiniest bit jealous of her powers,” he ranted, ignoring the _don’t admit that, dumbass_ that flitted across his conscious thought, “but that’s it. But I’m not jealous of her ability to use you. Hell, I can do that without even pretending to like you, and I certainly don’t have to fuck you to get you to do what I want.” Todd stared with wide eyes as a grin split Pietro’s features. “But she doesn’t even fuck you, huh? That was the first thing she ever did with you. Didn’t even kiss you first. All she has to do is smile and you’re her whipping boy.”

Todd’s eyes and shoulders drooped and he turned away from Pietro, toward the door.

“She doesn’t even like you.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Todd asked. “I’m working on it, OK?” He turned back to Pietro to find the other leaning toward him with his hands on his hips, cocked to one side. “Who’re you to call me a slut, anyway? You’ve always got at least two girls on yer arm, yo. I’m in love. _You’re_ the slut,” Todd hissed.

“I’m not a slut!” Pietro hastily defended himself, putting a hand to his chest. “I’m just shopping around. It’s not like I’m sleeping with any of them,” he paused for a moment, nodding his head from one side to the other a few times before adding, “yet.”

“Right,” Todd said, rolling his eyes and scoffing. “Anyway, I guess I’ll go fix that antenna,” the smaller mutant mumbled.

Pietro frowned. He’d been expecting a bit more of a fight from the younger man since Wanda was out.

With Todd outside, Pietro wandered down to the living room and picked up the remote. He sat on the sofa and idly flipped through static until the picture came online. “That’s it,” he yelled, and continued flipping through the channels without paying attention to what was on them. When half an hour had passed and Todd hadn’t come back in, Pietro tossed the remote aside with an irritated huff and headed out.

“Man, what’re you doing?” Pietro asked tiredly, standing atop the ladder and leaning his arms on the poorly shingled roof.

“I was trying to think before you showed up,” Todd answered, not rising from where he was laying on his back, staring up at the sky.

“You, thinking? That’s a novel concept,” Pietro said with a snicker.

“I kinda wanna be alone right now,” Todd muttered.

“Oh, well that’s too bad,” Pietro said with mock concern.

Todd lifted his arm from where it had been resting over his forehead and looked over at the smirking young man leaning against the roof. He mumbled something and let his arm fall down over his face, burying his face in the bend of his elbow.

“What was that?” Pietro asked, climbing up on the roof.

“I said I shouldn’t’a expected ta have some time alone. Shouldn’ think I can think wit’out someone having a problem with it.”

Pietro managed not to roll his eyes and sighed as quietly as he could manage.

“You know I’m not actually trying to be an asshole, right? I’m just telling the truth,” Pietro said, keeping his voice even as he crept closer to Todd.

Todd once more moved his arm away from his face, then sitting up. He studied the other for a moment.

“I don’t know how much I believe that, yo.”

“Well, it’s not like I care if you do or not. But if you don’t want my help, that’s fine, I guess.”

“How are you trying to help me? By making me feel like shit?”

“By letting you know what you need to fix? By pointing out that you can’t reasonably have what you want so you don’t get your stupid little heart broken later?”

“You’re one to talk,” Todd groused.

“The hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Tryin’ta point out my issues when you don’t even see your own right in front’a your own god damn face,” Todd bit out. He hopped over Pietro to the ladder and quickly descended, grumbling about how the older boy was an asshole.

Pietro sighed heavily and moved to the edge of the roof to watch Lance change the air filter on his car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long since I've updated this. School and all that. But, since I'm on a break, I should be able to update this every few days now.


	10. Chapter 10

Later that night, Pietro found Todd in the younger boy’s bedroom, his English textbook open and resting on his knees. He watched the other for a moment before clearing his throat.

“What?” Todd asked without even looking up. “If it’s the antenna again, you can forget it tonight.”

“Fixing the antenna isn’t the only use you have,” Pietro mumbled before straightening up and throwing something small at Todd. It startled the younger mutant when it landed on his book and wrinkled the paper he was writing on. With an irritated huff, he sat his homework aside, eyes widening when he picked up the treat that had been thrown his way. He looked at the peanut butter and jelly protein bar and smiled briefly before casting a wary glance at the older teen in the doorway. “Peace offering,” Pietro said with a shrug.

“Thanks, man,” Todd said, his smile returning without his express permission.

“Whatever. I stole it anyway, so it’s not like it cost me anything,” the older teen said before running off.

When Wanda returned, she had with her an ounce of weed and happily shared her haul. They chatted about Todd’s English homework, but she kept him at an arm’s length, pushing him away when he tried to snuggle up to her.

“Door’s open,” she reminded him when he took one of her sock-clad feet in hand.

“Yeah? I’m just rubbin’ your feet. Nothin’ sexual about that, Shnookums,” he pointed out.

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” Wanda said with a devious chuckle. A chuckle that faded into a moan as the younger mutant dug his fingers into her heels and slowly started working his way up her feet.

As her moaning grew louder, interspersed with laughter, someone happened by and started to pull the door shut. Todd caught a glimpse of Lance before the door clicked closed, and he reminded himself to thank the brunette later, and chuckled to himself because he knew he’d forget.

Wanda fell asleep before Todd finished the foot massage, but he continued on anyway. As she dozed, he played with her socks, flattered that she felt comfortable enough with him to fall asleep while he was touching her. Or, he thought briefly, _that was some really good weed_. He tried to smooth out every wrinkle in the thick cotton, finding it near impossible as every time he fixed one crease or bump, a new one would appear.

_That’s just how life works, I guess_.

He dozed off himself after a while, one arm cradling her left leg, face pressed against her calf.

He woke later to a cold, empty bed and the imprint of the pattern of Wanda’s sock on his cheek. He wasn’t surprised to find himself alone, but he was surprised by the little baggie of weed on the bedside stand. He put it in the drawer before he glanced at the clock. It was almost midnight.

He laid back down and rubbed his cheek idly for a moment. He tried to go back to sleep, but found himself unable. Finding himself with a slight headache and a gurgling stomach, he sat up and reached for the treat Pietro had given him earlier. He read the label as he bit into it, giving a pleased hum that would have embarrassed him if he hadn’t been alone.

Even with food in his belly, Todd found himself unable to ease himself into a state of mind compatible with sleep, so he picked up the little trash that lay around his room and took it downstairs to deposit in the kitchen garbage. Pietro was sitting on the floor by the television, bouncing a series of rubber balls – the kind one would find in vending machines at the exits of stores – off of a sleeping Freddy. The platinum blonde made a point of ignoring Todd when he emerged from the kitchen.

“What are you doing?” Todd asked, hesitantly dropping to his haunches next to Pietro.

“Trying to amuse myself, since I can’t sleep,” Pietro admitted, barely more than monotone. He threw another ball, and it bounced off of the larger, sleeping mutant.

“You didn’t really give me much of a chance to say thanks, earlier. Ya know, for the protein bar.”

“You thanked me,” Pietro said, watching a ball bounce off of Freddy’s hand, smirking when it knocked over an empty can on the table. “Besides,” he started, the grin fading from his sharp features, “you don’t need to thank me for a peace offering.”

“Yeah, but maybe I should apologize,” Todd said, shoving his hands in the pockets of his hoodie.

“Don’t ever apologize for telling the truth,” Pietro said, his voice still bland. He picked up what remained of his rubber balls and held them in his left hand. It was then that he actually looked at Toad, scoffing at the confused look on his face. “Let those rusty wheels turn, pork boy, you’ll get it eventually,” he said, lacking his usual venom. He rolled the balls he had in his hand, turning them over and moving them around one another as he waited for Todd to say something.

“Pietro, what-”

“It’s nothing. Forget it. Just,” and there’s a long pause, the muted buzz of the television becoming almost deafening, “go somewhere else when you two do whatever in the hell it is that you do. The rest of us have to live here, too, ya know,” Pietro hissed quietly.

“Look, man, I was only rubbing her feet.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want to hear those sounds coming from my sister. Hell, I don’t want to hear those sounds coming from little miss Shitty, which is why Lance doesn’t bring her here anymore. Well,” he stopped to let out a derisive snort, “that, and the fact that our place is constantly a mess.” He splayed his hand and let the colorful spheres fall to the ground. Both boys watched them roll a short distance on the carpet and stop. “So just, I dunno. Borrow the back seat of Lance’s car, or something. Not like he’ll say shit to Wanda. Unless you two actually fuck, then he might, but- whatever not-fucking thing you’re doing- just- take it somewhere else.”

“You know, we- well, I wouldn’t care if you brought a girl back here,” Todd said, standing when Pietro did.

“Yeah, that’s not something that’s likely to happen,” Pietro groused, walking off toward the kitchen. Todd followed against his better judgement.

“Why not? You’ve never seemed to care b’fore if we were,” the blonde stopped to think of a word, “inconvenienced.” As much as he wanted to make gestures with his hands, he kept them firmly in his hoodie pocket, twisting his fingers in the fabric.

“I still don’t,” Pietro said, pulling items from the cabinet. Sugar, peanut butter, oil, cereal, and Todd raised a brow, trying to figure out what the other was making. “But do you think a guy- a girl- anyone would want to come here?” the taller boy asked as he turned on the stove, started mixing things in a hastily washed saucepan. “Besides, those girls that hover around me? Clingy, too desperate to be popular. Not a one of them worth sleeping with.”

“Are you blind?” Todd asked, watching the other crush up cereal to put into the gooey, bubbling mixture on the stove. Pietro creased his brow and looked over at Toad.

“Because I have standards?”

“Ya ever think your standards are too high?” Todd asked, jumping on top of the refrigerator.

“You ever think yours are too low?” Pietro asked, pointing a wooden spoon at Todd.

“Nah, man, I’m just sayin’,” Todd trailed off for a moment, trying to find a comfortable position to sit and watch his not-quite-friend cook, “if I had your looks, I wouldn’t be a virgin anymore. That’s for sure.” Pietro turned the stove off and turned, crossing his arms. He regarded Todd with a skeptical expression. “What?”

“You say that like being a virgin at fifteen is a bad thing,” Pietro said with a huff.

“Well. First, I’m sixteen. Second, like you’re gonna tell me that you regret not being a virgin.” The two stared at each other for a moment. “Oh. My. God. You’re a virgin.”

Pietro turned back to his food preparation, spooning out the drying goo onto a plate.

“I am _not_ ashamed of that,” Pietro stated firmly, even though his cheeks were dusting with pink. “It’s not like I haven’t gotten blowjobs and shit.” He made an effort not to watch the smaller blonde as Todd watched his blush creep down into the neckline of his loose-fitting T-shirt. “No one’s come along that I want to fuck yet.”

Todd smiled and rested his chin on his folded arms, watching the other shape the peanut-butter-fudge-cookie-things.

“You don’t have to justify it, Pietro,” Todd said after a long pause.

An almost comfortable silence fell over the two when Pietro put the cookies in the refrigerator. Pietro took another spoon from the drawer and held it up.

“Come down here and help me clean out this bowl.”

Todd smirked.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is a good bro, even if he doesn't want to be.

Regardless of his good morning, Todd’s school day was unbearably long.

The day’s monotony was briefly broken up during lunch when Pietro left him half a serving of fries, blowing off his kind act by complaining about their fat content.

Things didn’t slow down when he got home, either. Without Wanda there, he took his English textbook from his bag and flopped down on his bed to get to work. Less than halfway through the story he was supposed to read and summarize, Lance tried to get his attention from the doorway.

“Hey, come here,” the older teen said, waving a hand at Todd when he looked up.

“What is it, man?” Todd asked, holding the ends of his book as he repositioned himself on the bed. “It’s not gonna take long, is it? I’m in the middle of homework.”

“It’s probably going to take about an hour, but now’s the only real free time I’ve got, Todd, so come with me,” Lance half-explained, sighing and pushing his bangs out of his face.

“You OK, man?” Todd asked, shoving his paper in his book before closing it and tossing it aside. He stood and stretched, then turned concerned yellow eyes up at the taller boy.

“I’m fine, I just need you to do something for me.”

“What is it, man?”

“You need to learn how to drive.”

Todd was floored. He blinked a few times, trying to find his breath. He couldn’t believe that Lance would trust him with his car.

“You,” he paused for a moment, eyeing Lance, still concerned, “You sure you’re a’ight? You’re gonna let me touch your baby?” Lance scoffed in response.

“It’s just a car, Todd. Move it,” he said, turning and walking down the hall.

Todd followed, hopping to keep up with the older boy’s longer stride.

“Now I know something’s wrong,” Todd started, cocking his head to watch Lance’s face for a reaction. “If you’re letting me touch your car, you must be sick. Or you got a head injury.”

Lance let out an irritated noise, shouldering the front door open. “Just go,” he said, and practically shoved the younger boy toward his car, slamming the door behind him. “I realized something about a week ago,” he said, referring to their last battle. Todd remembered that Lance had pulled something, that his left hand had been nearly useless for almost two whole days. He remembered the other’s over-exaggerated movements when he’d been foraging for breakfast, how every little thing that day had irritated him, even though he’d gotten most of his function back. “There will come a time when I’m not able to drive, and I need someone else to be able to do it,” he said, pointing dramatically at his car.

“So you choose me?” Todd squeaked.

“Honestly, you weren’t my first choice,” Lance said, climbing into the passenger seat.

“Oh,” Todd said, and it was a small noise – just barely a breath as his shoulders sagged. He walked around the car and hesitated at the driver’s side, nubby fingers hovering just under the door’s handle. “Who was your first choice?”

“Freddy,” Lance answered with an irritated sigh. “But, we found out yesterday that he doesn’t fit in the driver’s seat, so it’s you now.”

“Why not Pietro?” Todd asked, cocking his head slightly.

“Get in the car, _Todd_ ,” Lance growled, not answering the question.

Todd followed the order, pulling open the door. He closed it carefully behind him, and Lance produced a key. “Put this in the ignition and start it.”

A little over half an hour later, after Lance’s heartrate had returned to a reasonable level, after he could resist bracing himself on the dash at every minor lurch of the vehicle, he decided to call it a night.

“You did,” Lance steeled himself to give a pseudo-compliment, “alright. For someone with no driving experience. I guess.”

“Thanks, man,” Todd said, a hand in his hair, scratching the back of his head nervously and smiling reservedly.

“Well, don’t let it go to your head,” Lance said, shutting the passenger side door and taking the key back from Todd. “You’ve got to practice a _lot_ more before I let you take this out on the road, and you’ll _never_ go without me. Understood?” he asked, looming over the smaller mutant.

“Heh,” a nervous giggle bubbled up Todd’s throat before he could stop it, and he held his hands up in a defensive position. “Yeah, man, I undastand.” Lance nodded and stalked off.

Todd hung around outside for a moment, looking around in Lance’s car after he heard the front door slam behind the other. He vaguely wondered what had crawled up the older boy’s ass as he dug through the glovebox. Under the smaller-than-usual owner’s manual, Todd found a box of condoms. He chuckled, until he realized they were probably for use with Kitty. Then he blanched and gagged. He sat back in the passenger seat and turned the box over in his hands, wondering why the idea of Lance having sex with Kitty made him sick. While giggling at the instructions on the back, he came to the conclusion that it was Kitty that evoked that feeling in him. He could think of Lance with a big-breasted blonde, or even someone like Rogue without feeling nauseous. He tossed the box back in the glove compartment, and sat back. He crossed his arms and try to figure out why he found Kitty so distasteful.

“What’re you doing? Lance might stab you,” Todd heard at his side, and turned to look at Pietro, who was leaning on his elbow on the door.

“He wouldn’t stab me,” Todd answered without thinking, “he prefers blunt weapons.” Pietro stared for a moment, then doubled over in laughter. His palm screeched against the shiny metal and held his face with his other hand.

“Ah, shit,” the platinum blonde said between snorts of laughter before hopping into the driver’s seat. “You’re a card. But seriously,” he said, turning to Todd, “what’re you doing out here?”

“Lance was teaching me how to drive,” Todd answered.

“Tch. Try again,” Pietro said, crossing his arms as Todd stuffed his hands in his hoodie pockets.

“I’m serious,” Todd said, his voice taking on an almost whiny quality.

“Yeah?” Pietro said, turning back to sit straight in the seat. “Alright.”

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, Pietro drumming his fingers on the steering wheel.

“Hey,” Todd started. He pursed his lips for a second, looking unsure for a moment before asking the question anyway; “would you fuck Kitty?”

“Ew,” the older mutant squeaked. “No. Why would you ask that? God,” he breathed, once more crossing his arms.

“Me either,” Todd admitted quietly. “I was trying to figure out what Lance sees in her.”

“You got a little crush?” Pietro teased. Todd looked over with a raised brow.

“No,” the blonde said. “I just told you I was trying to figure out what he sees in her.”

“I meant on Lance,” the older boy said with a scoff.

“Oh,” Todd said, his small voice back. He looked forward, noting that one of the windshield wipers was worn, the rubber tattered. “Nah. He’s an OK guy, but not my type.” He could feel Pietro staring a hole in the side of his head and he eventually looked over when the spot the other was staring at started to itch. “What?”

Pietro was staring, slack-jawed, his brows raised. His tongue appeared to be pressed into his cheek, and he looked almost confused, lost.

“You like dudes?” As it turned out, Pietro had a small voice too.

Todd only shrugged.

“I mean, I’ll be honest – I only have eyes for Wanda, but I mean, I guess. I’ve liked a couple guys, yeah, but, like, I prefer women,” he said with a one-shouldered shrug. “Quit staring at me. It’s not that big of a deal.”

“Yeah. You’re right,” Pietro said, relaxing the slightest bit. He sat back and shrugged his shoulders up to his ears. “I guess that’s why you wouldn’t have had a problem with it if I were gay, huh?”

“Even if I’d never had a crush on a guy, I wouldn’t care, Pietro,” Todd said, creasing his brow. “What you do with whom is none of my business, yo.”

Pietro chuckled at Todd’s grammar, leaning back further in his seat.

“Why do you keep bringing that up, anyway?”

“I dunno, Toad, maybe I’m just craving a big ol’, hard, throbbing dick,” Pietro said, monotone. _Open mouth, insert foot. Foot? More like dick. Geez, just go for his fucking zipper, why don’t you?_ He covered his sudden uneasiness by stretching his arms up, then folding his hands behind his head. He put his feet up on the dash.

“No. Really?” Todd asked, taking his hands out of his pockets. He curled up in the seat, facing Pietro.

“I- I’m just weird I guess.”

“You’re telling me!” Todd said with a hearty chuckle.

“You’re one to talk!” Pietro griped, sitting up straight. Todd only laughed harder. “Man, whatever.”

“It’s cool, man. It’s cool,” Todd said, his laughter trailing off. “I should be doing homework, but- Do you wanna share a joint?”

Pietro regarded Todd for a long moment. When the other started to get that pathetic, rejected, hurt look, Pietro answered; “yeah. Alright.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it too soon for it to come out that Pietro is gay? There will still be more Wandrams, but I'm getting antsy lol


	12. Chapter 12

Halfway through a fat joint that was more tobacco than weed, Wanda walked in on the boys.

“Mind if I join you?” she asked.

They were curled up in Todd’s bed, the blonde leaning against the wall, Pietro on the end. The smile that grew on Todd’s lips halted, and he looked over at Pietro, who was getting up. The older boy moved over to make room for his sister on the bed, patting the space he’d previously occupied. Todd’s smile stretched unnaturally wide.

Wanda smirked before walking over, perching herself on the end of the bed. She reached out to ruffle Pietro’s hair, and he pulled back, quietly grousing at her teasing; “looks like you’re handling it better this time.”

“I handled it just fine last time, thanks,” Pietro complained, weakly glaring.

“Sure,” Wanda said, not meaning it one bit. “Hand that over,” she said, holding two fingers out for the joint.

Todd passed it over and, after a long pull, Wanda said, “no wonder. This is weak as hell.” After another drag, she offered it to Pietro, who almost didn’t take it. After a moment, he snatched it from between her fingers, making her snicker. “Smell test,” she announced, looking at Todd.

The younger mutant got up sluggishly, slowly raising his arm. Wanda buried her nose in his armpit and nearly fell off the bed, laughing.

“Good enough,” she said, reaching down to untie her boots. After setting them aside, she caught a glimpse of the disturbed look on Pietro’s face and lost it. She curled up, holding her stomach with the force of her giggle fit. She flopped down, resting her head on Todd’s bicep. “Roll a better one for us,” she said, looking up at Todd while she pushed at Pietro’s side with one of her feet. The speedster rolled his eyes as Todd started to roll another joint.

Jealousy burned in Pietro’s throat like bile while he half-watched Todd and Wanda share a joint, half watched the one moving between his lips and fingers dwindle. The thought that one of the two loosely cuddling at the head of the bed might have been right about his feelings made him nauseous.

“I’m gonna go,” he said quietly, and made to stand. Wanda’s foot, however, prevented him. He pressed it against his stomach until he sat back down.

“One of the few chances I get to bond with my brother, and he’s going to leave? I don’t think so,” she said with a shake of her head and a small grin.

Pietro pushed her foot away with his unoccupied hand. “What do we have to bond over?” he asked, his lips and throat feeling a bit dry.

“Well, now that you’re a stoner too, we have a lot to bond over,” she started, splaying her hands. “There’s all sorts of poetry, art, movies, snack foods, boyfrien-”

“I’m not a stoner,” the platinum blonde cut her off, not wanting her to finish the word.

Wanda gave him an incredulous look, then turned her attention to Todd, who just shrugged.

“I’m not,” Pietro said defensively, his voice cracking. His face burned and he could feel blood rising to the surface all the way to the tips of his ears. “It just,” and he trailed off for a moment, looking at the joint that had burned out, “helps me relax a little.” _ABORT SPEECH_ , his brain screamed at him, so he reached out for Todd’s lighter on the bedside stand. He relit the paper and tossed the plastic thing back in the general direction of the table, then leaned back on his free arm. He inhaled and let the smoke in his lungs ease away his blush.

“Is it better this time?” Todd asked, and something twitched in Pietro’s jaw. But, he had to admit, that it was. He looked over to the blonde and they locked eyes for a long moment.

“Yeah, it is,” he said, once more in his little voice. Todd looked concerned for a moment, and Wanda turned toward the smaller man that had his arm around her. As if sensing his thoughts, she pulled away and let Todd get up. Todd drew one knee up to his chest and reached out with his hand that wasn’t holding a joint, that had just been around Wanda’s shoulders, toward Pietro. The taller boy watched, almost in slow motion, as the stubby, webbed hand came to rest on his arm near his elbow.

“You sure, man?” Todd asked, his fingers tightening the slightest bit. Even Wanda watched curiously, and she didn’t seem to be sneering or leering, so

“Yeah, I’m sure.” Then he shrugged his arm near-violently. “Now get off of me.”

Todd huffed out a laugh and fell back on the bed, throwing his arm back around Wanda’s shoulders.

“So, as I was saying,” Wanda started, taking the tiny remains of the joint from Todd, “I was out with Chad when-”

“Who is Chad, again?” Todd asked, turning his head toward Wanda, his lips brushing her hair.

“My boyfriend,” she said, her voice strained as she held in the last available puff of smoke, “we were-”

Neither Todd nor Pietro heard anything else after that point. Todd looked devastated. His facial features went slack, his eyes wide, his shoulders tense. Pietro was captivated by how the feeling of being crushed visibly spread through the younger boy’s body. Wanda went on and, if she was aware of the way she’d just casually crushed Todd’s little, webbed heart, she didn’t show it. Pietro realized he was high, for a second or third time since they’d started smoking, when he found himself thinking that the look of complete misery on Todd’s face just might be beautiful.

Wanda continued telling her story, something about almost revealing her powers, and that almost made Pietro pay attention, but then a sound went off from Wanda’s pocket. Todd flinched and Pietro blinked. She took her phone from her pocket, giving it an irritated glare before her face split with a grin, eyes lighting up.

“Gotta take this,” she said, leaning over to kiss Todd’s cheek. “Chad,” she explained, answering the phone as she hopped up from the bed. She grabbed her shoes as she gabbed into the mouthpiece. She wiggled the fingers that weren’t absolutely necessary to hold the phone at the boys before striding out of the room.

Todd didn’t move for a long moment. When he moved, all he did was take a deep breath. His shoulders shook like he was crying, but no tears came.

“I told you,” Pietro breathed, numbly taking in the other’s form – the way he was curling in on himself, pursing his lips. The way his blown wide eyes looked off to the corner of the room, hopelessly, helplessly seeking its wisdom.

“Not now,” Todd managed, his voice catching in his throat.

Pietro hadn’t meant it to cause the little blonde more pain. He sighed and tossed his roach at the blackened spot on the stand, the spot where the other two put out all of their burning plants. He toed off his sneakers and crawled up the bed, sitting closer to Todd.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” he said after a long moment. He almost reached out to tuck the other’s hair behind his ear when the smaller boy turned away, but his limbs were feeling heavy after making the arduous journey up to the head of the bed. “I just meant that I knew this would happen.”

“Why did you tell me she had a boyfriend?” Todd asked.

“She has a new one every few months,” Pietro answered. “Think she might’ve even had a few girlfriends.” He picked at his nails, not knowing what else to do with his hands.

“Does she-” and Todd choked on a near-silent sob, still without tears from what Pietro could see, “sleep with them?”

“I don’t pay that close of attention to what she does, but I don’t think so.” Pietro didn’t want to get the other’s hopes up, wished he’d bitten his tongue on those words. He almost wanted to take them back, accuse Wanda of being a slut, but he couldn’t do that to his sister when he knew she was no such thing. No matter how jealous he was, even when he had it in him to hate her, he couldn’t do _that_. “But you’ve got to let her go, man,” he finally said. “Find someone less shallow,” which was an insult he could justify leveling at his sister.

“There is no one who would-” Todd paused to swallow, “who would-”

“Shakespeare would,” Pietro countered, interrupting Todd.

“What?” the blonde asked, creasing his brow, turning his head ever so slightly.

“If hairs be wires, then black wires grow on her head. No roses have ever touched her cheeks. And yet, I think my love is rare as any she belied with false compare,” Pietro said, moving just enough to lay down next to Todd, facing his back. Todd scoffed and turned just a little bit more, just enough to catch a glimpse of Pietro’s rare, unguarded expression. He could almost be called handsome in his less-tense-than-usual state.

“You butchered that all to hell,” Todd said, managing to quirk one corner of his lips. Tears had leaked from his left eye and were still pooled in his right.

“I tried,” Pietro said blandly when Todd turned away from him again. He brought a long-fingered, too-pale hand up, watching his own actions with a strange curiosity as he rested it on Todd’s arm. He took a moment to get comfortable, eventually letting his forehead come to rest against Todd’s back, just above his shoulder blades. He didn’t care, at the moment, if Todd felt him smile when the smaller boy mumbled a barely recognizable

“Thanks.”


	13. Chapter 13

“Wanna get high?” Pietro asked that weekend, standing in the doorway to Todd’s room.

“Sure, I guess,” Todd said, sitting up from where he’d been laying, scratching at the back of his hands. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and went for the drawer on autopilot. Pietro moved closer and reared back, wrinkling his nose.

“When was the last time you showered?” he asked. Todd looked confused for a second, breaking apart a bud and an old cigarette butt.

“Thursday,” he said, mixing the two dried plants.

“Go shower, I’ll try my hand at rolling this,” Pietro said, dramatically cracking his knuckles.

“I don’t feel like it, Pietro,” Todd said, looking around in the drawer for his rolling papers.

Pietro huffed. “Are you still torn up about Wanda having a boyfriend? How did you not know?”

“Wishful thinking, I guess,” Todd muttered.

“Get a shower. You’ll feel better,” Pietro offered.

“No I won’t,” Todd shot back with a creased brow.

“Get a shower. I’ll feel better,” the older boy amended.

“Do you wanna get high or not?” Todd asked, finally turning to look at the other.

“Yeah, but your depressed stink is gonna bother me,” Pietro said. Todd opened his mouth to argue, but by the time a harsh, breathless squeak wormed its way up his throat, he and Pietro were in the upstairs bathroom. Todd stumbled when the platinum blonde let him go, not used to the speed. He held on to the edge of the sink until he got his bearings. “Shower,” Pietro said, turning on the taps. He found a decent temperature before shoving a fully clothed Todd under the spray.

Before Todd could sputter and yell at him, Pietro was gone.

He went back to the younger boy’s room and, when Todd ambled in twenty minutes later, looking for all the world like a wet cat, Pietro held up his first attempt at rolling a joint.

“Sorry, man,” Todd said, holding a towel around his waist, his soaked clothes under his other arm, “I’m fresh out of ‘you tried’ stickers.”

Pietro scoffed. “You feel better?” he asked.

“No,” Todd answered, throwing the clothes on the floor.

“You will,” the speedster said, watching Todd take a hair tie from the rickety old dresser he stored the little clothing he had in. Todd pulled most of his hair back in a low ponytail. “Oh,” Pietro started, “so that’s why your hair does that.” There was realization in his voice, and it got Todd’s attention.

“What?” The blonde asked, one brow raised.

“Your hair, uh, poofs out. It’s because you pull it back when it’s wet,” Pietro said, halfheartedly pointing at Todd’s ponytail. Todd made a non-committal noise and turned away. Pietro reclined on the bed, sans his shoes, and watched out of the corner of his eye as Todd looked for something to wear. He took in how the knobs of Todd’s spine stood out, pushed against his skin. How he had something akin to freckles, just greener, littering his upper back. He noticed that he could see Todd’s ribs even when the other did have the slightest bit of a belly. If his back was a little hunched, Pietro noticed, Todd’s shapely shoulders and biceps made up for it. But, his arms dwindled to spindly nothingness below the elbows, forearms littered with old scars. A few were new. Red. Angry. Devastated. The platinum blonde felt like he could almost hear what Todd was thinking as he watched emotions flash across Todd’s features;

_I want out of my own head._

It was a thought he knew all too well, so he chose his next words carefully. “As much as I appreciate you being comfortable around me and all, get dressed. I’d like to smoke this thing today.” Normally, he’d be picking on the smaller boy. Even then the words were bubbling up in his throat. _Aww, freckles_ , was a taunt on the tip of his tongue. _How are you skinny and fat at the same time?_ he wanted to say, but the angry red lines on his arms kept Pietro’s mouth set in a similarly thin line.

“Sorry,” Todd mumbled, pulling a loose sweater on over his head. Pietro recognized it as one of his that he’d thrown away months ago. It had been a comfortable one, but he’d worn it threadbare, so in the trash it had gone.

“You’re fine,” Pietro said as Todd wandered over, sweater and jeans and not bothering with socks. “Mind if I light this?”

“Go ahead,” Todd said with a slight nod. He sat on the end of the bed and pulled the sleeves of the sweater down over his fingers. Pietro lit the paper and puffed until it stayed lit. He took a deep breath and held it, closing his eyes. He tried to gather his thoughts while he waited for the smoke to scatter them. _This is supposed to help with depression, isn’t it?_ he wondered, opening his eyes. As he sighed out the thick smoke, he reached out to Todd, tapping the other’s arm, tapping it with the back of his hand.

Todd took it, exposing just enough of his fingers to do so. He brought it to his lips and inhaled. When Todd was holding it in, couldn’t retort, Pietro started talking.

“I knew because I kinda followed her to the mall one day. I was bored, so I was gonna go depants people and unhook chick’s bras up there, but I saw Wanda, so,” he trailed off for a moment, taking the joint back when Todd offered it. “Chad is one of those tall douches from the basketball team. He’s not even cute. She has terrible taste.” He took a hit and ran his free hand over his face. “But, I’ve seen her other boyfriends, and a couple of girls who I think were her girlfriends. They could’ve just been friends, but they had their arms around each other, so I don’t know. You’re not, and will never be, her type.”

“Pietro,” Todd started warily, taking the paper back.

“I _know_ ,” Pietro said. “You don’t want to hear this, but just listen.

“I’ve seen the guys she likes,” and Todd just smoked and listened, “tall, blonde, preppy. They don’t really fit with her angry goth girl image. I’ve seen her turn up her nose at some pretty goth boys. I’ve seen her snub punk guys, rockers. The sorts you’d think she’d like. But, she doesn’t. Like them, that is. You will never be her type. You can’t stand up straight all the time because of your mutation. Your hair doesn’t lay the right way. You don’t have money, can’t steam press your clothes. You’re not even five and a half feet tall.”

“I’m still growing, Pietro,” Todd defended weakly, offering the burning paper. Pietro took it, inhaled deeply and closed his eyes as he leaned back against the wall.

“You won’t make six feet,” Pietro answered. “You’re still mutating, too. You didn’t have those freckles when you first moved in here,” and the older mutant could _feel_ Todd stiffen. He didn’t need to open his eyes to perceive that. He took another drag and held it, offering the joint to Todd, who took it a bit too quickly.

Pietro opened his eyes, watching Todd take a long pull of the weedandtobacco. Pietro’s hand shot out, not with his usual speed, but still faster than Todd could counter, and took a hold of the smaller boy’s wrist. The one with the joint, the one which had a bare wrist, the sweater slipping down. “And you need to stop this,” the faster mutant said, his voice thick and strained with the effort of holding in the smoke, rubbing his thumb over the raised marks on the underside of Todd’s arm.

Todd’s eyes widened and he sputtered something, smoke curling up from his lips. He dropped the joint, but it was quickly forgotten on the floor when he tried to wrench himself free from Pietro’s grip. The older boy held steady, Todd’s movement only succeeding in pulling him forward. They stared at each other from only a few inches apart, Todd’s eyes darting around nervously, Pietro’s taking in the expressions on the little blonde’s face. Pietro let out the smoke, finally, and it drew Todd’s eyes to his lips. The blonde squinted through the smoke and licked his lips. When Pietro grinned, Todd’s eyes darted away. _Skittish_ was one of the words that flitted across Pietro’s conscious thought. When Todd’s chest started to heave with the effort it took to breathe, Pietro shoved Todd away by the grip on his wrist, letting him go.

“Why do you care?” Todd asked, breathless as he rushed to grab the still-burning paper from the floor. He stubbed it out on the table, having to reach over Pietro in the process.

“I don’t know yet,” Pietro said, all raw honesty as he ran his fingers up Todd’s arm from his wrist, pushing up his old sweater. He could feel every bump and dip in the skin in incredible detail. It was dry. Too dry, and his fingers pulled at it unintentionally. Todd stared at his face, watched Pietro’s brow pinch. “Ask me again in a couple weeks.” He wrapped his fingers around Todd’s elbow and laid back, bringing the smaller boy with him. Todd curled up against him, letting Pietro hold his arm over his stomach.

“I’m sorry,” Todd said, pressing his face into the sheets by Pietro’s side.

“Never apologize,” Pietro said with a short shake of his head. He threw the arm that wasn’t holding onto Todd over his eyes. He held tightly to Todd’s elbow as the little blonde shook like he was crying.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Brotherhood are reluctantly bros, and Todd starts putting the pieces together.

Pietro had run his fingers over the dried tear tracks on Todd’s cheeks before zipping out of the room.

He’d sobered up long before Todd had fallen asleep not even half on him, but he let the other cling weakly to his shirt and held his elbow tightly until the sobs evened out into snoring. Pietro realized that he really needed to clear his head. He ran his fingers through his hair and made his way to the kitchen at a casual pace. He dug around in the cabinets for something to make.

“Hey, Pietro,” Freddy said, taking a seat at the kitchen table.

“What?” Pietro snapped, taking out a box. He found most of the dishes clean, and briefly wondered who washed them, but decided he didn’t care as he filled a pot with water.

“I was just saying ‘hey,’ but if you’re up for talking, I did have a question,” the bigger boy started carefully.

“I’m not, but ask anyway,” Pietro said, turning on the stove. He crouched down and searched lower cabinets for things he was surprised still existed in the Brotherhood house.

“You’ve been spending a lot of time with Todd lately,” Freddy said, folding meaty hands in front of him.

Pietro stilled for a moment, chili powder in hand. “That’s not a question,” he said, bringing the supplies he found up to the counter. He started opening a can as he waited for Freddy to continue.

“Well, why?” Freddy asked, cocking his head.

“Been bored,” the platinum blonde answered, not knowing, or caring, if that was the truth.

“He came to me yesterday, you know,” Freddy said, and Pietro hummed, feigning disinterest. He drained the beans and set them aside. “He’s all torn up about Wanda.”

“That’s unfortunate,” Pietro said, his voice light, distant. _Who isn’t torn up about something when it comes to Wanda?_ he asked himself.

“What are you making?” Freddy asked, standing up. “Can I help?”

“Goulash,” Pietro said, looking at his gathered ingredients. “Or, something like it. Goulash meets chili.” He turned to Blob and held out a pan. “You know how to cook sausage?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Freddy said, reaching out for the metal.

“Good. There should be a few packages in the refrigerator. Make two of them,” he ordered.

Freddy set about his task, and the two moved around each other surprisingly seamlessly. Pietro’s natural abilities made things a lot smoother, if they were honest. Which one of them had a tendency not to be.

“Hey, what time is it?” Pietro eventually asked.

“About six or so,” Freddy asked from where he stood over the stove, cutting up the meat. “Why?”

“I fell asleep earlier and didn’t check the clock when I got up. That’s all,” he answered. Freddy looked like he didn’t believe him, but let it go.

When Lance wandered in, coming to investigate the source of the smell, he gave a wary tilt of his head.

“Did you guys do something wrong and you’re making food to make up for it?” he asked, stepping up to the ‘fridge to take out the milk.

“No,” Pietro said with a huff. “Can’t I just make food because I’m hungry?”

“You usually steal food when you’re hungry. You only make food when you’re upset,” Lance countered, taking a glass from a cabinet.

Pietro scoffed and Freddy looked over, once more concerned. This earned them both a roll of icy blue eyes. “You would know when I’m upset, right?”

Lance leveled him with a glare over his glass of milk.

“Fine, whatever. At least I handle stress better than you,” Pietro picked.

Lance rolled his eyes and set the glass aside on the counter. “Anyone want some of this? Because I’ve got it here, and I’m standing next to the cabinet.”

“I’ll take some,” Freddy said. Lance reached up for another glass.

“Pietro?” the brunette asked.

“Yeah, sure,” Pietro said, taking the pan of chopped up sausage from Freddy, pouring it into the pot. After a long moment he added, “pour one for To- Toad, too.”

“Are we going to have an actual dinner?” Freddy asked, his eyes lighting up.

“Why not? Butter some bread and I’ll sprinkle it with garlic salt and throw it in the oven,” Pietro instructed.

“Too bad Wanda and Tabby aren’t here,” Freddy said. “Maybe Mystique, too. Then it would feel like a real family sitting down to dinner.” Lance scoffed at that.

“We argue just as much as a real family,” Lance said. “Might as well be one already. Freddy, let me butter the bread. You go get the decent plates from the cabinet in the living room.”

“Sure,” the biggest boy said, turning over the knife. He waddled out of the room and Lance moved the supplies closer to Pietro, who eyed him warily.

“We’ve got about two minutes. Tell me what’s going on.”

“Nothing, god,” Pietro spat, sounding exasperated. “Can’t I just cook without you all being up my ass about it?”

“Sure, if you did that on a regular basis. Just tell me what’s wrong so we can get over this.”

“There’s nothing wrong!” Pietro hissed. “There’s nothing going on. It’s just fucking goulash. It’s not like I’m making a five course meal or something,” the platinum blonde muttered, turning the food over in the pot to keep heat evenly distributed. Lance huffed, laying out an eighth slice of bread on a baking sheet.

“Then, whatever,” the brunette said with a shrug. “If you change your mind about talking, you know where to find me.”

“I won’t,” Pietro said, sprinkling the buttered bread with cheap garlic powder. “But, thanks, maybe,” it sounded more like a question than anything else, and Pietro slammed the oven closed over it.

Freddy returned and set the table, and Lance headed up the stairs to get Todd, announcing as much before he left. The brunette returned a few minutes later, as Freddy was taking the garlic bread from the oven, with a chastised-looking blonde. Lance had a grip on his upper arm which, if Pietro hadn’t seen the strength in Todd’s biceps earlier, could have possibly been painful. The look on Todd’s face made it look that way. Lance gave a brief pat to Todd’s shoulder after leading him to sit in one of the mismatched chairs at the kitchen table.

“Hungry?” Freddy asked, and Pietro closed his mouth from where he’d been about to say something. He turned away as the bigger boy talked to Todd.

When they ate, Lance and Freddy talked. They eventually brought Todd into their conversation, but no one bothered to address Pietro. He listened in an uncharacteristic silence, eating at a normal pace. _Normal_ , he thought to himself with a scoff, _there’s nothing normal about any of this_.

Once he was finished, he put his dishes in the sink and beat feet out of there.

It was Todd’s turn to find him and, if Pietro were honest, he hadn’t made it too difficult. But he had to at least put up the façade of not wanting to be found. He listened to the sounds of Todd climbing the ladder that almost perpetually against the side of the house, the Schrodinger’s antenna possibly needing to be fixed at any moment, laying on his back and watching the stars emerge.

“Hey,” Todd started, an uncertain smile on his lips.

“Hey,” Pietro answered, sitting up. He drew up a knee and let his arm rest on it, but didn’t yet look over.

“Thanks for the food, yo,” Todd said, getting comfortable on the edge of the roof, scooting to the side of a loose shingle.

“Don’t mention it,” Pietro said. “Really,” he started with a frown, “don’t.”

“Alright,” Todd said, still in Pietro’s old sweater, pulling the arms down over his fingers.

“So, what brings you out here?” the platinum blonde asked, curling his legs up under himself.

Todd opened his mouth like he was going to say something, then closed it. He brought his shoulders up to his ears, and Pietro could see every last ounce of confidence melt from the little blonde’s form.

“I was lonely,” he admitted. It was a small sound, but it caught Pietro’s attention.

“That sucks,” the older boy said, but it didn’t seem dismissive.

“Can I sit with you fo- ya know what, never mind. Sor-”

“Yeah, sit,” Pietro said, patting the shingles next to him. He gave a good-natured snort when Todd crawled up to him.

Several minutes passed as the two watched stars seemingly wink to life in the darkening sky. Todd shifted and parted his lips several times, stopping himself from saying whatever it was on his mind.

“For God’s sake, just say it,” Pietro groused.

Todd gave a chuckle and his shoulders slumped. He relaxed a bit as he joked, “I dunno, man. Maybe I should wait until we’re on solid ground. I don’t wan’ ya ta push me off the roof.”

“I won’t push you off the roof, Todd,” the taller boy said, giving Todd a half-hearted glare.

“Fine. Well,” Todd said, taking a deep breath. “Areyougay?” he pushed out in one breath. Pietro’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second, barely visible before he turned away.

“Maybe I will push you off the roof,” he muttered.

“No, like- It’s not- You just said-”

“What did I say?” Pietro said, turning toward the other, whip-quick.

“When we were talking about Kitty, you said something about bringing a guy over, and-”

“Contrary to popular belief, I have friends,” the platinum blonde said with a loud, irritated huff.

“Yeah, but why would you bring them here? Why wouldn’t you hang out at the mall, or something?”

“Why do you care?” Pietro snapped, pulling at a shingle, tearing it loose. “Can’t have Wanda, so you’re coming after me? Is that how this is going? Can’t have the hot sister, so you go for the brother with the similar facial features? Am I your silver fucking medal, Todd?” He left the shingle barely hanging on to clench his fist.

“What?” Todd shrieked, nearly losing his balance. “N-no! It’s not like that at all, man! I just wanted to know, honest. I didn’t mean to make you think anything weird, I just- was just curious. You don’t have to tell me. Shit,” he breathed the last word, curling into himself. “Sorry.”

“Fuck,” Pietro sighed, watching Todd press sweater-clad palms into his eyes. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, broken only by Todd’s harsh breathing as he tried his damnedest not to cry, Pietro muttered, “maybe I shouldn’t have put it that way,” and he once more turned away, resting his mouth on his palm.

“Sorry,” Todd said again, tilting his head back in an attempt to keep tears from falling over his cheeks.

“Man, quit that,” Pietro said, nearly-playfully smacking Todd with the back of his hand. Todd gasped, flinging out his arms when the touch startled him off balance. A long, slender arm shot out, and maybe Todd’s back hit the rough, unevenly tiled roof a bit too hard, but at least he didn’t fall off. Not again. He clung to Pietro’s arm, holding himself close to the bigger boy, who was poised over him, holding him in place with a hand splayed on his ribs. With his heart in his throat, Pietro almost didn’t hear Todd’s quiet,

“So, what am I supposed to say?”

After sucking on the inside of his cheek for a long moment, Pietro answered, “I don’t know,” pulling away from the smaller mutant. “I really don’t know,” he admitted, pinching the bridge of his nose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a little bit longer than usual by way of apology I suppose. I'm having a minor surgery tomorrow, so I may not update this until Monday. Then again, I may update it Friday if I'm not in too much pain, which I probably won't be (here's to hoping). Wish me luck.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things start to look up.

A little over a week later, when Wanda wanders into Todd’s room, she’s already high. She threw her shoes in the corner of the room and flopped down on the end of his bed, splaying her arms. She let out a heavy sigh and stared at the ceiling, not even greeting the blonde.

“Babycakes? You alright?” Todd asked, hiding the tiny, plastic skateboard he was playing with under his pillow.

“Not really,” she said, blowing her bangs out of her face with a huff.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, getting on his hands and knees to crawl the short distance to sit at her side. She looked over at him, eyes blown wide and a deep frown etched on her face. She softened a little bit at the concerned look on Todd’s face.

“It’s not that bad,” she started, trailing off for a moment, looking away. “I just,” and she shrugged, “broke up with Chad.”

Todd’s eyes widened, his lips parted and he tried his damnedest not to smile. He quashed the hope colored butterflies that flitted around in his stomach, offering an, “I’m sorry,” and he meant it. As much as he wanted the young woman for himself, he’d rather she be happy. He’d rather she smile and light up his world no matter how brief his joy was.

“Its fine, Todd,” she said, moving one hand up to push her slightly sweaty bangs out of her face. She sighed again and looked back at the blonde once more. “He wanted to fuck, and I have a two month rule. We got into a big fucking fight because he couldn’t wait another five fucking weeks.

“To make a long story short; he got grabby, I punched him in the face, and ran off to get high.”

“Why did you come find me to get high, eh?” Todd asked, holding up a hand. “I could’a cheered you up faster.”

“I wanted something stronger, so I got pills. As far as I know, you don’t do pills, so,” she said, shrugging loosely.

“Oh,” Todd said, his voice nearly a squeak, his brows raised.

“Just Vics,” she said, sitting up. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, but she ignored it. “Nothing terribly strong. I’m already starting to sober up,” she said, but Todd didn’t know how much he believed her with how big her eyes were. “So a massive fattie sounds really good right now. What do you say?” she asked, putting on a fake smile that raised Todd’s heckles.

“Sure,” he said, turning to his bedside stand.

“I’m surprised you have any of that left,” Wanda noted, cocking her head.

“Well, when you’re not around, I usually mix it, so,” he trailed off, breaking up a bud.

“Aww,” she said, giving a real smile that the blonde missed. “For Pietro?” she asked.

“Nah,” he answered, “I just like to make it last.”

“Shame,” she said under her breath.

A few minutes later, he offered her a joint, his face tinting with pink when she took a lighter from her shirt. “Wait,” she said, pausing in her effort to light the paper. “Smell test,” she announced. Todd groaned. “Well, if you know you smell, go wash up. I’ll wait for you.”

“It’s not that,” Todd said, rolling his shoulders n a little shrug. “I took a shower last night because Lance was pitching a bitch about me starting to smell again. I just haven’t put on any deodorant today.”

“Got to it, then,” Wanda said. “Putting on deodorant’s not that hard.”

“I guess not,” Todd said, his lips twisting down briefly. He hopped over to his bedside stand, his face heating once more at the way his heart’s desire chuckled when he hopped, and grabbed the powder blue tube from atop the dresser. He lifted his shirt just enough to slip his hand under and applied the thick, white substance, glad his back was to Wanda so she couldn’t see him grimace.

Once he was back on the bed, Wanda lit the joint. “I’ll get you some more, like, tomorrow,” she said, sighing out smoke.

“Thanks, babe,” he said when he took the paper. Wanda grunted at the pet name.

“Ya know,” she started, half a joint later, peeling off her socks and throwing them in the general direction of her shoes, “I should really start dating people who are going to treat me better.” There was a brief pause while she held in smoke and played with her toes, picking away at old, black polish. “I mean, it’s not like they’re abusive or anything. They just want shit I’m not willing to give. They want sex, want my drugs – or, my contacts, I guess – they treat me like I’m delicate. Isn’t that a riot?” she asked with a snicker. “Me. Delicate.”

“Ha,” Todd said, a big grin stretching over his lips. “You’re so much stronger than them. Probably even physically. I’d like to see you arm wrestle that ‘Chad’ guy.” Wanda grinned in response, a devious glint to her crazy-wide eyes.

“I should date someone like you,” the raven haired young mutant said, sighing out the remnants of a cloud of smoke. Todd could swear his heart skipped a beat.

“Y-yeah?” he asked, tilting his head up.

“Yeah,” Wanda answered, chuckling. “You’re kind, funny, sweet. Too bad you’ve got the hots for Pietro,” she said, just a bit too loud.

“I what?!” Todd shrieked, falling back.

“Yeah, man. You’re so obvious.”

“No way, babe! It ain’t like that. We’re just friends!”

“Oh, then I guess It would be a bad idea to ask you out this weekend. Glad I saved myself that embarrassment,” Pietro quipped from the doorway. He threw a plastic bag on the ground to his left and crossed his arms. He let Todd simmer in his unease, smirks drawing across both Pietro and Wanda’s faces, watching the little blonde flail and try to form words and blush. “I’m messing with you,” the speedster finally said, “besides, I only date girls.”

“My ass,” Wanda said under her breath, but her brother caught it, shooting a withering glare her way. “So what’s this?” she asked, ignoring his ire to point to the bag.

“Just some shit I found. Thought Todd could use it,” Pietro said, jerkily shrugging one shoulder. “Anyway, I’ve got shit to do today, so I’m out.” He zipped off the moment Wanda slipped off the bed to head for the bag.

“Oooh,” Wanda said, her face lighting up. “Oh yeah, he’s got it bad for you,” she said in a sing-song voice.

“What?” Todd squeaked, his face still pink.

“Look at this shit,” she said, upending the bag, emptying it on Todd’s bed. A few bottles and a small box lay on the sheets, fancy white packaging staring up at the two. “Expensive shit,” she said with a whistle. “Look, look,” she said, taking up one of the bottles, “god, I would kill for this shit. I really need to ask my dad to get me some.” She passed the bottle off to Todd, who looked over the label. _For sensitive skin_ , _infused with aloe_ , and he huffed fondly. “Shampoo, body wash, d- oh my god,” she said with a giggle. “This is that fancy liquid deodorant with a roller! Man, you ought to give him some sugar after this!” 

Todd thought about saying something, but the box caught his attention. He grabbed it and shoved it under his pillow while Wanda was reading the fancy label on the roller-deodorant aloud.

“This has really made my day so much better,” Wanda said, putting the joint she’d forgotten about to her lips. She shrugged when she noticed it wasn’t lit. “Thanks, babe,” she said, leaning over to kiss Todd’s temple. “We’ll both get our man, eventually.”

Todd could only sputter as she went to gather her shoes, sitting the fancy deodorant on the dresser next to the one she had purchased for him.

“You should start a collection,” she said. She grabbed her shoes and stuffed her socks in them. “One more thing before I leave.  
“The best part out of all of that is that he _bought_ all of that,” she noted.

“What?” Todd asked, brows pinched. Wanda pointed down and Todd followed her direction. Todd picked up the receipt. All he could say was “oh,” in his small voice, as Wanda tittered and walked out.

Once he was certain she was gone, he stuffed a hand under the pillow, pulling out the box. He couldn’t stifle the bark of laughter he let out when he realized it contained peanut butter flavored taffy. As he opened the box and unwrapped one of the chewy candies, he wondered when the other had started to associate him with peanut butter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, due to certain circumstances, my surgery has been postponed until the 31st. Looks like y'all have me on a daily basis for a bit longer.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pietro inappropriately deals with depression and repressed feelings.

Pietro had felt sick, listening to Wanda and Todd. He’d been planning on dumping off the things he’d bought with some shitty excuse that Todd would buy hook, like, and sinker, before curling up in Todd’s bed and stealing his weed. His stomach roiled and revolted, and he headed to his room to blast his music, all forty-two-and-a-half minutes of _Nevermind_ set on repeat.

He sang along with the first few tracks, laying on his bed with one leg crossed over the other. He wiggled his foot slightly out of rhythm with the music, and considered running down to the mall to cause a ruckus. He decided against it when he counted the times he’d done it over the past couple of weeks and found that he’d been there four times. Four times without friends. Or girls. Seven if he counted having company. He eventually fell back into his own head, staring up at the ceiling as thoughts and scenarios drifted lazily behind his eyes.

He paid no attention to the grating sound of the CD restarting. By the time that _Lithium_ started a second time, Lance was standing in the doorway. The platinum blonde didn’t notice the taller boy until the end of the song, when Pietro shifted his head because his neck was growing stiff from being in the same position for so long.

“What?” Pietro asked, no surprise showing on his features even though his heart was in his throat. His voice was barely audible over the new song.

“You’re listening to good music,” Lance noted with a hint of amusement, striding over to the CD player. He turned the knob for the volume down and sat on Pietro’s bed. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Fuck. I’m just bored,” Pietro said, raising his voice the slightest bit as he sat up.

“There’s plenty of work to be done around here,” Lance said, holding out a hand as if the work were evident in front of him.

“Work? Me? Yeah, no,” Pietro said, bringing his left hand to his chest. “What’s with you playing den mother recently?” Lance rolled his eyes.

“Trying to act like I’m almost an adult doesn’t mean I’m playing den mother, Pietro. Just because you’re childish doesn’t mean the rest of us can afford to be,” the bigger mutant said, a barely there sigh tinging his voice.

“I am _not_ childish,” Pietro hissed, reaching over to turn the music back up as the off-key mockery at the beginning of _Territorial Pissings_ came on. Lance heaved a heavy sigh before turning to glare at the shorter boy. Pietro just grinned. He wiggled his fingers daintily and wiggled his brows at the brunette.

Lance threw his arms up as he stood. “Do what you want,” he said, raising his voice over the music, “but I’m getting sick of the lot of you just moping around all the time. But it’s not my fucking business, so I’m going out.”

Pietro was thankful that Lance missed the way he jumped when the other slammed the door behind himself. After dragging his palms down his face, Pietro rolled over on his side, curling his arms around himself. His stomach pitched a fit, but he didn’t feel particularly inclined to do anything about it. Until he got an idea.

Half an hour later found Pietro strolling in the front door, whistling to himself. He bumped the heavy thing closed with his hip, his hands occupied with several greasy paper bags.

“What’s all that?” Freddy asked, watching as the slender boy unceremoniously dumped all of the bags on the dining room table.

“Food,” Pietro supplied, stuffing a few fries in his mouth, smirking around them. “I spent the last twenty minutes confusing the shit out of the workers at Gut Bomb. Grab some, there’s plenty,” he said dismissively. He then turned toward the archway to the living room. “Hey, Todd, Wanda, Lance – if you’re here – there’s food!” He yelled, catching a glimpse of the look of shock on Freddy’s face, a dripping burger halfway to his lips.

“You’ve been awful nice lately,” Freddy noticed around a mouthful of probably-meat and bread.

“Nah, not really,” Pietro said with a one shouldered shrug. “I just grabbed too much for myself so I’d get something I like for sure.”

“Yeah, but you’ve been cooking-”

“And you’ve been asking to help, so we made enough for you to eat, too. It’s only fair,” the platinum blonde avoided carefully with an annoyed roll of his eyes.

“Since when do you care about what’s _fair_?” Freddy asked, but he didn’t sound angry.

“It’s just food. If someone helps me cook, I’ll share. I’m not _that_ greedy. Besides, Lance bought most of the ingredients, so he deserves a cut, too.”

“And Todd?”

“Skinny little bastard needs to eat,” Pietro answered, attempting to cut their conversation short by stuffing his mouth full of mayonnaise-dripping chicken. Freddy had been about to ask another question, looking skeptical when Wanda entered the kitchen. The bigger boy shut his mouth and helped her take everything out of the bags and lay it out on the table.

Wanda tried to ruffle her brother’s hair by way of thanks, and she managed to catch Pietro off guard, as the boy was watching the entryway for Todd. He squawked around the remainder of his chicken sandwich, batting at her hand. She laughed and used her other hand to steal a fry from the box next to Pietro.

“Hey, where’s Todd?” he asked. “Weren’t you just with him?”

“Like, an hour ago,” she said, giving a knowing smirk that raised Pietro’s heckles.

“Well, take him something. This shit isn’t going to eat itself,” the platinum blonde said with what he hoped was a dismissive wave of his hand.

“Why don’t you take it to him?” she asked, pulling up a chair next to her twin. She picked the pickles off of a burger before tearing into it.

“I can’t be fucked,” he said offhandedly.

“Oh no?” Wanda asked, trying not to laugh.

Pietro tried to level her with a glare, but it only seemed to force out the laugh that she had stomped down.

“Just ask him out already,” she whispered, leaning in close.

“Wanda! Ew! I have better taste than you,” Pietro said, pushing her back.

“Mm-hm,” she said, rolling her eyes. “At least you’re not denying it anymore.”

“Denying what?” Pietro asked, his nose burning with the squeak of his voice.

“Uh, that you like dudes,” she answered as if he’d asked the general color of the sky. Freddy snapped to attention at that, and Pietro pulled back dramatically.

“Watch your mouth, young lady!” Pietro said, once more bringing his hand to his chest.

“You don’t need to deny it,” Wanda said around a mouthful of beef, and that would have been funny if Freddy hadn’t immediately interjected with,

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Pietro.”

For a brief moment, the world seemed to slow down for the speedster. He clenched and unclenched his fists and shook his head. He swore he could hear his father’s disappointment, a phantom voice in his ear.

“I’m not fucking gay, and even if I were, I wouldn’t be interested in Todd of all people!” he finally snapped. “Jesus Christ,” he said, turning away from the others.

“Don’t worry, the feeling’s mutual,” Todd muttered as he walked in, pulling the sleeves of his white shirt down over his bracelets, over his knuckles. “What were you screaming for?” the dirty blonde asked, his face set in as neutral a pose as he could muster, given his confusion.

“Aww, you hurt his feelings, Piet’,” Wanda teased, being ignored by her twin.

“I picked up food,” Pietro said, standing. His chair screeched on the tiled floor and banged against the table. “Have whatever you want as long as you save some for Lance,” the older mutant said with a brief gesture to the table before storming out. He barely heard Todd’s

“Man, you guys should quit picking on Pietro,” as he zoomed off. He didn’t hear the “he gets really touchy about that. His sexuality, or whatever,” nor the “he just needs to get it over with and suck a big dick already, geez,” from Wanda. He didn’t want the hot, fuzzy, almost sick feeling that bubbled up in his chest from the king of cowards sticking up for him. He told himself it was nothing. He was just embarrassed by insulting someone he’d started to consider a friend - which meant only insulting them to their face - behind their back and being caught in the process. _Yeah, that’s it_ , he assured himself, _Todd does absolutely **not** give me any sort of butterflies. None whatsoever._

In town sounded like a nice place to hide.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three guesses as to what I listened to while writing this, and the first two don't count.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pietro snaps, tells the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tiny bit of self-harm in this chapter. Not all that graphic, though.
> 
> Also, unimportant OC is unimportant. He didn't even get a name.

Pietro managed to put his depression on hold for an hour or so when he ran into – almost literally – someone he was on good terms with from school while running around town. Pietro braced himself on a post bin when a soft, dark-skinned hand caught him by the elbow, keeping him from tipping over. When the young man recognized Pietro, his high, Asian cheekbones stood out sharply with the force of his smile. It was the point guard for the Bayville High basketball team.

“Hey, man,” Pietro said.

“Hey yourself,” was the response, the other boy taking his hand away to push his dreads back over his shoulder. They were held back by a headband, resting low on the back of his head, the color almost blending in with his hair. “We’ve missed you up there.”

“Yeah, you’re the only one,” Pietro shot back, but the two wound up sharing sodas the platinum blonde pilfered from the local market. It almost felt like a date with the way the older boy kept smiling, with how they kept talking, walking and sitting close together. He might’ve mistaken the other’s behavior for flirtatious if he hadn’t known it was in his nature to be overly friendly. If he hadn’t known the older boy hung out with the Art and English kids outside of basketball practice.

Pietro’s good mood vanished the instant they parted ways with a polite wave, and the speedster wound up swiping a pack of a stranger’s expensive cigarettes.

When he gets back to the Brotherhood house, Lance’s car is there. It’s still warm when he perches himself on the hood and lights one of the stolen cigarettes.

“Hey,” he hears behind him and his stomach flips.

“What do you want, Todd?” he asked as he held out the open pack of cigarettes anyway.

The blonde takes one and lights it before hopping up on the hood beside Pietro. “Camels, huh? We fancy tonight,” he said with a smile. When the older boy turned to look at him, Todd was surprised by how tired the other looked. “You a’ight?”

“I’m never not,” Pietro lied.

“Thanks for the food,” Todd tried.

“Whatever,” came the response. Todd frowned.

“Thanks for the other stuff, yo.”

“I just found it. Better than letting it go to waste,” Pietro said with a roll of his eyes. He flicked his ask, watching the burning tip of his cigarette.

“Yeah, well,” Todd started, a smile on his face, his voice inclined toward good humor, “next time you ‘find’ something for someone, don’t leave the receipt in the bag, huh?” When the older mutant looked at him, Todd curled up and pulled back like he expected the other to strike him, his smile turning sheepish. He wasn’t expecting the other’s

“Does that kind of thing work for you?”

“Blowing off the nice things you do for me, or the soap?”

“The soap, dumbass,” Pietro nearly growled.

“Oh, yeah, it’s good. I like it a lot. It’s not- well, it doesn’t, um, hurt.”

“That’s good,” wasn’t the answer Todd was expecting. Pietro offered Todd a second cigarette when he finished his first. “I didn’t know you smoked,” Todd admitted quietly. “Uh, cigarettes, I mean.”

“Only sometimes,” the platinum blonde said, sounding distant.

“Hey, I’m sorry they were picking on you earlier,” Todd started, idly plucking at a loose thread on his sleeve. Pietro went from defeated and limp to tense and wary as Todd continued, “for liking boys, or not liking boys, whatever.” Pietro made an irritated noise in his throat, but Todd went on, “they don’t know what they’re talkin’ about.”

“And you do?” Pietro said, his voice clipped.

“I- I don’t know shit,” Todd said, drawing back a bit. “I just-” and he ran his free hand through his hair, “-you are kind of defensive about it.”

“What do you want to hear, Todd?” Pietro asked, giving Todd a small shove. His icy eyes narrowed as he shoved the smaller boy again. “Huh?” Toad yelped when he started to slip, grabbing Pietro’s arm. He held tight, and wound up with Pietro on top of him, snarling down at him, “do you want to hear about my fantasies? How I think about being forced to my knees and choked on cock?” Pietro’s nails screeched against the hood of the car when his fingers tightened at the admission. “Do you want to hear about how it brings me to my knees in the shower, how I have to bite my fucking hand to keep from screaming?” He wrenched his arm from Todd’s grip to shove his hand in the smaller boy’s face, showing him the barely-there, almost healed bite marks in the fleshy part of his hand between his forefinger and thumb. Todd tried to turn his head away, but Pietro gripped his chin. “Or,” he started, sneering, “were you hoping for something more personal? Like how the last time I had my hand on my dick, your stupid fucking freckles came to mind? I bet you were planning on fucking picking at me until I told you how I tore my fucking pillowcase with my teeth because the thought of biting your fucking freckled hunchback got me off, weren’t you?” When Pietro realized just how terrified Todd looked, he slid off of the other, off of the hood of the car with a muttered, “Christ.”

He sat on the dusty ground and puffed on his cigarette until Todd timidly joined him, sitting next to him, his knees drawn up to his chest. Pietro raised the leg closest to the other, bending it at the knee and resting his elbow on it so Todd wouldn’t notice that he was half hard. He closed his eyes and started counting backward from forty to try to calm himself.

“You know you don’t have to make stuff like that up just for me, right?” Todd asked, his voice small, strained. He was crying and trying his hardest not to let it show, not to let his voice waver. He wiped his eyes on with his pants legs while he waited for the other boy to say something.

Pietro barked out a high pitched laugh. “The one time I’m telling the truth, and you don’t believe me,” he said, shaking his head. The platinum blonde pushed up the left sleeve of his sweater and turned his arm over to look at the underside. His skin was almost translucent, the vein there obvious. The startled, pained gasp he let out when he pushed the burning cherry into his sensitive skin shocked Todd out of his defensive posture.

Burning his fingers in the process, Todd knocked the cigarette away, grabbing Pietro’s arm above the burn. He yanked it over to himself with an uncharacteristic strength. “Pietro, why-”

“I can’t do this, Todd,” Pietro interrupted. He heaved a heavy sigh and swallowed thickly before he continued; “My dad’ll kill me.” From what Todd knew of Magneto, that didn’t seem likely, but he didn’t interrupt. “He’ll see it as the failure that it is. Maybe- maybe if he had another son, he wouldn’t care. I mean, it’s not like he already cares much as it is, but-” a hiccup interrupted his speech and Pietro couldn’t help but laugh at himself. “I try so hard to think about the girls, and they do look nice, but it’s just not the right kind of nice. But I _can’t_ be gay. I just can’t.”

Todd cradled Pietro’s arm for a moment, rubbing what he hoped were soothing circles everywhere he could that wasn’t too close to the burn. He ignored the pain in his own fingers, trying to think of something to say to comfort the other. He frowned as he considered that, just a few weeks ago, he’d have loved to have this over the other, that he would have given almost anything to get a leg up on Pietro, to have something to hang over his head. But _this_ \--

“Don’t hurt yourself trying to think,” Pietro quipped, wiping at his face with his free hand to make sure he wasn’t crying.

“I,” Todd started, then thought better of it. “What exactly do you think is wrong with being gay?”

“All of it, or just what’s going to get me disowned?” the silver haired youth asked, eyeing Todd warily as he moved in closer, allowing Pietro to relax his arm so it didn’t have to stretch all the way across his body.

“Whatever has you so upset about it,” Todd said, resting his head on the other’s stiff shoulder.

“No grandkids for my father is the biggest problem, I guess. I- he expects me to carry on the family line,” Pietro said, looking away.

“Adopt? Surrogate?” Todd suggested.

“Yeah, it’s not the same. Or, he won’t see it that way.”

“I don’t see why you can’t adopt some little mutant brats later on. Seems like it would be helpful to the cause,” Todd said, shrugging lightly so he didn’t jar the other too much. “What else?”

“I’ll get made fun of.” Todd snorted in response to that. “What?” Pietro demanded, his face blossoming with pink.

“It ain’t so bad, being made fun of. I,” he trailed off, pressing his cheek into the taller boy’s bicep, “manage. If I manage, I know you can. It’s not like anyone could catch you to beat you up.”

“Yeah, you manage alright, by cutting yourself to pieces and dropping to your hands and knees to placate everyone.” When the younger blonde started to pull away, Pietro wound his free arm around the slender but shapely and well-hidden shoulders, pulling Todd back into his personal space. The other had yet to let go of his burned arm. “Look, that part’s not even entirely about me. I mean, it is because I’m a selfish, narcissistic prick, but, what I mean is- we’re mutants.”

“Well, that’s a big ‘no shit,’” Todd said, earning himself a rough squeeze to his shoulder.

“Man, shut up,” Pietro groused, though he managed a chuckle. “The dating pool for mutants is limited. If we’re smart, we’ll only date other mutants, because no regular human wants to deal with that shit. And, since there’s already a stigma against being a mutant, who wants the added stigma of being gay, too?” Pietro let his head hit the car’s grill with a loud ‘thunk,’ staring up at the sky. “Let’s say I had a,” and Pietro had to take a deep breath to be able to say, “male partner. You think I want to come home one night to find him dead in our kitchen with the words ‘ _mutie-loving fag_ ’ carved in his chest?”

“You think that wouldn’t happen if it were a chick instead? I mean, it would say ‘bitch’ instead of ‘fag,’ but, like, there’s always gonna be that chance, yo.”

“It’s far less likely with a woman. And besides, it’s not like I couldn’t be happy living with a woman for the rest of my life.” He quickly tacked on an, “as long as she’s not friends with my sister.” His hand wandered on Todd’s shoulder and upper back as he thought of how to say what he wanted to. “I just wouldn’t want to fuck her. We’d be more like friends with tax benefits than anything else.” Todd gave a short, snuffling laugh in response. “It’s just more trouble than it’s worth, Todd. I don’t want Wanda trying to set me up with idiots she knows. I don’t want Freddy being extra nice and acting like I’m delicate or different. I don’t want Lance being all weird around me. God, if he finds out,” the speedster trailed off, finally taking his arm from around Todd to rub his face once again.

“I don’t really think it’ll be all that different. Freddy knows I’m bi, or whatever, and Wanda thinks I prefer men – as unfortunate as that is, since I’d rather date her – but, I mean, they’re not terrible to me. They’re not weird to me,” the little blonde started, letting go of Pietro’s arm to stand up. He offered his hands to Pietro, who raised his brows before taking them, letting himself be hauled to his feet.

“They’re your friends, Todd. Of course they’re not going to be weird with you.”

“You are too, so I’ll make sure the rest of them ain’t weird about it either. I mean, if they ever find out, ya know.” Pietro felt a warm sensation from the tip of his nose all the way to his belly at that comment, almost rearing back from the sudden embarrassment it brought about. “But that’s all blistered up and you ain’t even cleaned it out yet, so let’s go take care of that, eh?”

“Yeah, sure,” the taller boy answered, blowing one of the longer strands of hair from his face. He scratched his nose to avoid looking directly at Todd, and followed the younger mutant inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The basketball player from this chapter is actually loosely based on someone who was in one of my creative writing classes at school. Kind, patient, soft-spoken and creative... I'd blush and everything would turn all pink like I was playing yandere simulator and got close to sempai whenever I got within ten feet of this guy. 
> 
> Also, should I amend the description of this story a little bit? I haven't touched on Pietro's jealousy of his sister very much. It's been mentioned a few times, but it's not quite as major a plat point as I intended it to be when I started.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pietro can't stop telling the truth to Todd.

“You keep that unda the water,” Todd instructed. “I’ll be right back.”

Pietro nodded, listening to the rush of water from the faucet as the other hopped off somewhere. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment when he heard Wanda ask, “what happened to you?”

“Burned myself,” he answered. Wanda clicked her tongue and pushed the faucet away, leaving it running, to look at the small, round mark on Pietro’s arm. She muttered something to herself and pulled a drawer open with her foot. She took out a threadbare towel and wiped it over his arm.

“Hush,” she said when Pietro hissed. “You need to get it cleaned, dumbass. How did you get this, anyway?”

Pietro looked away, half frowning, half pursing his lips in an irritated fashion. “Man, accidents happen,” he whined.

Wanda raised a brow as she brought the towel over the small wound again. “Even to you, Mr. Perfect?”

“I’m not a freaking wrestler,” Pietro griped, and Wanda’s sudden bark of laughter startled him.

“What’s so funny?” Todd asked, returning with something small and green in hand.

“Pietro watches wrestling,” she explained, pushing her brother’s arm back under the water. He rolled his eyes and put his other hand on his hip.

“I do not. I just happen to have seen commercials.”

“Sure,” Wanda said in a sing-song voice, a teasing lilt at the end. “You don’t watch all those buff, oily, scantily clad men rubbing up against each other.” Her grin fell away for a moment, a contemplative expression taking its place. “Why don’t I watch wrestling?” she asked, more to herself than anyone else.

“Hey, um, sweets?” Todd started as Pietro grit his teeth, “maybe it’s not really all that nice to say things like that, ya know?” The blonde rambled, accepting the towel from the taller woman to dry pat Pietro’s arm dry.

“I’m just playing, mostly,” she said, aborting a roll of her eyes halfway through. “But, he is my brother, so I have every right to pick on him.” There was a brief pause before, “but, I guess I won’t pick on your boyfriend if you don’t want me to, Todd.” She grinned wickedly at the shade of red her closest friend turned.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” he mumbled, sounding defeated. He brought the green thing in his hand up, and Pietro nearly jumped out of his skin.

“What is that?” the taller boy demanded.

“Relax, dude, it’s just aloe,” Todd said, holding up the triangular chunk of a spiked leaf.

“Where the hell did you get that?” Pietro asked, his nose wrinkling with confusion.

“Freddy,” Wanda answered, having grown bored with trying to help. Instead, she took a soda from the refrigerator while explaining, “he’s got a small handful of plants in his room. Aloe, catnip, other shit. Guy has a bit of a green thumb,” she trailed off for a moment as she popped the tab and took a sip of a grape soda, “which you’d know if you paid attention to your so-called friends.”

“There’s a difference between friends and allies,” Pietro said, reluctantly letting Todd slather his burn with the sticky juice from the plant in his hand.

“Mm-hm,” Wanda said half-heartedly, ducking under the kitchen sink to pull an off-brand adhesive bandage from the first aid kit stored there. Todd thanked her when she handed it to him and pulled it open.

Happy to have his arm back, Pietro wrapped his fingers around it for a few seconds, just feeling his own arm. He quickly pulled his sleeve down over the bandage that looked dark on his skin.

“There’s still burgers if you’re hungry,” Wanda said, pulling open the fridge door to show one layer of shelving spotted with burgers and chicken. “Freddy and I ate all the fries, though.” She didn’t sound the least bit apologetic.

“I’m not,” Pietro said, then bit out a forced, “Thanks, though.” Wanda looked stunned for a moment before closing the door.

“Ya know,” she said, shrugging when the hand she placed on Pietro’s shoulder was shaken off, “boyfriend or not, Todd’s been good for you if you’re saying ‘thanks.’”

“Piss off,” Pietro hissed.

“There’s the Pietro we all know and love,” she said with a shake of her head.

“So, uh, y’all wanna get high?” Todd asked, one hand finding the back of his fluffy hair.

“For once, not really,” Wanda admitted. “I’m going to go listen to my voice mails, and if Chad is bawling his eyes out, I’m going to call him back and make him lick my boots and buy me icecream. Catch you later.”

“Is it just me, or was that kinda hot?” Todd asked as soon as Wanda was out of earshot. Pietro gave him an irritated side-eye.

“Dude, that’s my sister.”

“So, uh,” Todd started, shifting from foot to foot nervously, “do _you_ wanna go get high?”

“Might as well,” the platinum blonde said with a sigh. “Nothing better to do.”

Pietro kicked off his sneakers while Todd rolled a joint. They shared it in an awkward silence until

“So, you were serious earlier?”

“About what?” Pietro asked, pulling one leg up close to himself, leaning his head back against the wall.

“About liking my, uh, freckles,” Todd said with a little shrug and a sheepish smile hidden in his shoulder.

Pietro sighed out smoke as he responded. “I didn’t say I liked them. I said that’s what came to mind.”

“Oh,” and Todd being back to his small, defeated little voice almost made the older boy feel guilty. He handed off the joint to the other.

It was warm where their fingers brushed.

“Look, I’m not trying to be mean, alright? It’s not like it matters, anyway, because nothing like that will ever happen between us,” Pietro explained.

“Yeah, but it’s still a bit of a confidence boost,” Todd mumbled around the paper in his mouth. “I don’t think anyone else will end up liking my freckles.”

“Eh, there’s girls out there that’re into way freakier shit than your freckles.”

“Like what?” Todd asked, bending his knees and planting his feet firmly in the mattress. He wiggled his toes in the cool sheets.

“Well, some try to stick their fingers in your ass while they’re sucking your dick,” Pietro said with a chuckle, his voice lower than usual with his effort not to laugh.

“Some?” Todd squeaked and laughed. “You mean you’ve had that happen more than once?”

“Twice now,” Pietro said, taking the joint when Todd handed it back. He allowed the younger boy to press his shoulder into his arm, the thought _we’re both desperate for contact_ , not as painful as it would usually be. “What?” he asked, looking away from the wide, curious eyes turned up at him.

“What’s it feel like, having a finger in there?”

“I wouldn’t know!” Pietro hissed, stealing the joint back from Todd as soon as he took a hit. “I never let ‘em get it in.”

“I’d think you’d like something like that,” Todd said, taking a hold of Pietro’s hand to bring the paper to his lips that way.

“It’s weird!” Pietro squealed, trying not to twitch when Todd’s lips brushed his fingers. “You think I’d like things in my ass just because I’m-” he took a deep breath, “-gay?”

“I heard it feels good,” Todd said with a slight shrug, still holding Pietro’s arm – the injured one – carefully.

“I- I wouldn’t know,” the older boy admitted.

“You’ve never-? Not even on yer own?”

“No, Todd!” and he finally pulled his arm away, taking a drag.

“Ya ever kissed a boy?”

“Have _you_?” Pietro shot back.  
  
“Yeah,” was the simple response.

“What?” Pietro squawked, “who?!” He sat up straight and looked at Todd, his stare nearly burning holes in the smaller mutant.

“His name was Connor. You don’t know him,” Todd said, drawing a shoulder up to his chin.

“He go to Bayville?”

“Used to. Foster kid,” he explained. Pietro hummed in response, letting Todd take his hand and the joint again. “So, have you?”

“Yeah,” Pietro huffed out, letting his fingers curl around Todd’s chin.

“Who?”

“If I tell you, you better not fucking tell anyone,” Pietro growled, tightening his fingers on Todd’s jaw.

“Yeah, no problem,” Todd said with a nervous laugh.

After regarding the younger mutant for a long moment, Pietro breathed out, “Evan.”

“Evan?!” Todd gasped. “Like, Spyke Evan?” he shrieked, taking the joint from between Pietro’s fingers. The taller boy pressed his palm over Todd’s mouth.

“Dude! Say it loud enough for the whole house to hear!” Pietro hissed, finding himself straddling Todd’s knees. The smaller boy pulled at Pietro’s wrist until he relaxed his grip.

“Sorry, man. I was just a little surprised,” Todd admitted, rubbing his thumb over the bandage on the other’s arm. “Tell me about it.”

“What’s there to tell?” Pietro asked, his face twisting in confusion as he sat back on Todd’s knees.

“When? How? Where were you?” Todd asked, moving his hand down Pietro’s arm toward his elbow. He watched the older boy shiver. Pietro clenched his fists and Todd flicked the joint in the direction of the bedside stand.

“The summer before freshman year,” Pietro said, his blown wide eyes growing a fraction more. “I spent the night at his place. We were- we were,” Pietro paused to swallow, “sweaty from playing hoops in the driveway. We fell into his bed, laughing. Our skin was sticking together and I just- I kissed him.”

“Yeah?” Todd asked, worming his fingers into the other’s clenched fists. “Go on.”

“He kissed me back and we just kinda laid there,” Pietro answered. “I- I guess we kissed a few more times, but then he went to get us a snack and when he came back the moment was gone.”

“That’s it?” Todd asked. When Pietro realized the smaller mutant was holding his hands, he snatched his own away.

“Of course that’s it! We were thirteen!”

“Well, I dunno, man, thirteen is like, _that_ age,” Todd trailed off, pink lighting up his cheeks.

“What, did you do more with your _Connor_ or whoever at that age?” and he refused to admit that he sounded bitter.

“It’s not important,” Todd said, giving a small, reserved smile. “Wanna do it again?”

Pietro watched Todd’s smile falter, watched him turn his head away and push down his hoodie where it had ridden up. After a moment, he licked his lips and asked, “with Evan, or are you offering?” Pietro held his breath as the younger boy turned to look at him, his irises only a glint of golden yellow as he stared up at Pietro.

“Whichever.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do they kiss?


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First kiss in a long time and a pleasant shower.

There’s a long moment where Pietro considers it.

He became acutely aware of how he was perched on Todd, where they were touching felt too warm. He let his fidgeting hands come to rest on either side of the little dirty blonde mop of hair splayed on the pillow, and Todd looked up at him. Pietro had to look off to the side for a moment because he didn’t want to see what he thought he’d find in that gaze. But, when he looked back, Todd just looked comfortable. He looked high, like they were. His too-wide lips were slightly parted, quirked up a bit in that natural way the smaller mutant’s mouth seemed to sit. Pietro had to admit to himself, reluctantly, that Todd’s face, while maybe not the usual kind of face he found attractive, didn’t look swollen or fat from the angle he was looking at it from. He took a deep breath to try to slow himself down, let it out to try to blow away the haze of pot smoke, wishing he was thinking more clearly.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he finally said, fingers twisting in the fabric of the pillow. He slid down Todd’s body until he could rest his forehead on the thin, hard chest, and jumped when Todd’s hand came up to rub his back.

“A’ight,” Todd said, rubbing soothing circles.

After a minute, Pietro mumbled, “I dunno, though. Evan did get pretty hot.” Pietro smirked when Todd laughed, tensing all over again when webbed fingers threaded in his hair. The platinum blonde expected them to catch and pull, but they didn’t. Todd made a soft noise while he felt up the soft strands in the back – the ones Pietro didn’t gel.

Pietro gasped when the dirty blonde tilted his head up, cupping the back of his head. He let Todd move him, roll them on their sides. The nubbly little fingers came around to his jaw and the thought crossed Pietro’s mind to nip at them.

“You haven’t eaten any bugs lately, have you?” Pietro asked when Todd shuffled in closer.

“Nah,” Todd answered, chuckling. “Haven’t had a chance with all the food you’ve been giving me.”

“Well good. No one’s ever gonna want to kiss you if you keep doing that.”

“Hey, man,” Todd defended, “when you’re hungry, you’re hungry.”

“Next time you’re hungry, come to me,” Pietro said, pressing his cheek into Todd’s fingers. _I must be so high right now_ , he thought, huffing out a sound of amusement through his nose.

“Do you really mean that, or are you just saying that because you’re high?” Todd asked, moving his fingers back to trace the shell of Pietro’s ear, to fondle the little stud and tug on the lobe briefly. He let his hand come to rest on the long, slender neck.

Pietro took a deep breath, closed his eyes while he processed the question. “Honestly, probably just because I’m high. I mean, I’ll probably steal you something if you ask, but I don’t know why I offered.” _Geez, stop talking. You’re embarrassing yourself._

There was a long moment of Todd just stroking the older boy’s shapely jaw with his thumb before he hums an affirmative. Todd said, “I’m going to kiss you. Stop me if you don’t want it.” But Pietro doesn’t resist. He noted the slight pinkish-green sheen to the inside of the smaller boy’s parted lips before he closed his eyes.

The first attempt was off center, catching the corner of Pietro’s mouth, and they both laughed. Todd’s hand found its way back into Pietro’s hair, and the taller boy whimpered, parting his lips for the next soft press.

Pietro was surprised by how gentle Todd was, how he seemed to know what he was doing. It had crossed his mind that Todd was lying about this Connor kid, but the way he was coaxing Pietro to open up, to lean into it, to relax his jaw, had him wanting more. He wanted to take something from Todd that _fucking Connor_ didn’t have.

“Hey, relax,” Todd said, his speech the slightest bit slurred against Pietro’s lips. The taller boy ignored it, surging against the smaller mutant, taking his lips. Todd gasped, arching against Pietro when long, thin fingers seized his hair.

“You need a cut,” Pietro gasped between soft smooches, rolling himself on top of Todd. “Your hair is soft, and would be all the way through, but your split ends are prickly,” he breathed against the corner of Todd’s mouth.

“Anyone ever tell you ya talk too much?” Todd asked, pushing at Pietro’s shoulder until he gave and fell back on the bed. Todd threw a leg over the longer ones beside his, drawing one between his thighs, but he didn’t quite crawl on top of the other boy.

“Probably about as much as they tell you the same thing,” Pietro managed before thin, soft lips took his again.

They rolled around on the bed, almost wrestling, but with no real intent behind it, just kissing for several long minutes. They groped shoulders and chests and wound their legs together until Todd slid off the side of the bed with a yelp, taking the sheet, and almost Pietro, with him. Pietro laughed, long and hearty, squeaking on occasion while Todd blinked up at him from the floor.

“God, what is wrong with us?” he wondered, looking down at the blonde. He smiled though, and Todd smiled back, eventually dragging himself back up to the bed.

“Did you like that, though?” Todd asked, resting his head on Pietro’s shoulder.

“I shouldn’t, but yeah,” Pietro admitted, still a little breathless. “We should stop, though,” he said, surprised that Todd didn’t complain.

“Yeah, maybe some other time when Ah’m less excitable. I was startin’ to get a little excited and I didn’t want to freak you out.” Todd gave a sheepish grin, batting his almost non-existent lashes.

“I,” and Pietro hesitated, drawing a hand up. He moved it down to Todd’s chest. He brought his fingers down over the thick fabric of the other’s sweater until he could feel the waist band of the other’s jeans beneath it. “I felt you.”

“That somethin’ you like?” Todd asked, just letting himself be touched.

“I think I’d like it a lot more if you took better care of yourself,” Pietro said. Todd gave a slight frown.

“I’m working on it, Pietro,” he groused.

“I know.”

“I think,” Todd said, ghosting his fingertips over the back of Pietro’s hand, “the same applies to you.”

“What?”

“Here,” Todd said, taking his hand from the other’s to poke Pietro’s forehead between his brows. “You shouldn’t beat yourself up over it, ya know.”

There’s a long silence before, “Sometimes these things can’t be helped,” and he hopes Todd understands.

“Yeah,” Todd agreed. Then he asked, “Do you think I need a shower? I haven’t tried those things you got me yet.”

“Wouldn’t hurt,” Pietro said, giving a jerky shrug. “I,” and he hated admitting this, “need some time to think, anyway. Roll me a small joint?”  
“Sure,” Todd said.

They stayed close a moment longer before reluctantly pulling apart. Todd rolled Pietro a half weed, half tobacco joint while he really hoped Wanda wasn’t lying when she’d promised more weed.

Todd stood under the spray for a while, letting the warm water wash away the slight sweat he worked up with Pietro. He tilted his head back, enjoying the rare moment of peace. He soaped his hands with the new body wash, letting out a pleased hum. The soap was soft in a way that he wasn’t used to body washes being. It felt like a conditioner and a little bit slipped through his fingers as he rubbed his palms together.

He wasn’t looking forward to getting out of the shower, figuring his skin would dry and crack as always. But, he was sure enjoying the way it felt at the moment. Soft and smooth, _normal_.

With that thought on his mind, he smirked, deciding to do the other normal teenage boy thing, soaping his hand and slipping it between his legs, thoughts of hot twins behind closed eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Even while kissing a boy, Pietro STILL denies his feelings.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stoned Pietro gets a little frisky.

Todd was surprised to find Pietro still in his bed when he returned. He did a double-take and raised both brows upon noticing the other’s distinct lack of shirt. He had a towel around his neck.

“Um, Pietro?” he asked, trying to keep his eyes from dropping to the long, pale torso and dusky nipples.

“Todd, I had the best idea,” Pietro said, sitting up. One corner of his mouth was quirked, and he was still a little buzzed.

“I dun think I like the sound of that,” Todd said with a small shake of his head. He pulled his towel closer around himself, holding it up under his chin to cover as much as possible.

“No, really. I’m going to cut your hair,” Pietro said, scooting to the end of the bed. He spread his legs and patted the mattress between them. When Todd started to protest, the older mutant simply rolled his eyes and pulled him closer by the bottom of his towel so he had to move or be stripped.

“Pietro!” Todd hissed, clenching his fists in the scratchy fabric. He drew his knees up to his chest when he felt Pietro’s jean-clad thighs pressed up against his bare ones.

“Hush,” Pietro admonished, producing a comb and pair of scissors from seemingly nowhere. “You know, curling up like that shows me more than it covers,” the platinum blonde added, giving the outside of Todd’s thigh a slap to prove his point. “Hush,” he said again when the smaller boy yelped. Pietro ran the comb through Todd’s hair over and over until it was straight and smooth and free of tangles. He gave the plastic a few more passes when some of the strands started to almost-curl. He measured the length of the wet strands between the fore and middle finger of his left hand over and over, eventually making a note of Todd’s shivering. “Cold or scared?” he asked, splaying the towel over Todd’s shoulders..

“Both?” Todd answered after a moment. Pietro scoffed and started the task of trimming the smaller mutant’s hair. “Don’t butcher it, please,” Todd whimpered.

“Psh. Anything I do will be an improvement.” Pietro grinned when Todd stopped shaking, and barely kept his laughter behind his teeth when he imagined the irritated look on the other’s face.

The whole process took less than ten minutes, even without the use of Pietro’s speed. The taller boy cleaned up the hair with an efficient quickness and brought the towel up to dry off the dirty blonde locks.

“Turn and look at me,” he ordered. Todd did as told and Pietro flipped his bangs, pushing them one way and then the other before he decided on splitting them down the middle. “There,” he said, satisfied, letting Todd turn away from him. “I think it looks much better,” Pietro said, resting his chin on Todd’s shoulder. He placed his hands on his own knees that bracketed Todd’s.

“Thanks, I think. I’ll let you know when I can actually see it.”

“Mm,” Pietro said.

“So, uh,” Todd started to fidget, feeling Pietro’s smooth, cool skin pressed against his back. “Any reason you needed to take your shirt off for that?”

“Oh, yeah, so it wouldn’t get in my sweater. That shit sticks everywhere.”

“Ah! Uh, hey,” Todd said again, trying not to shrug Pietro’s mouth off of his shoulder.

“Hmm?” Pietro asked around the skin in his mouth, sucking a bruise just to the right of the largest patch of freckles on the smaller boy.

“Any reason you’re- ah,” and he started to squirm, “-ow! Biting me?” he could feel Pietro grin against his skin and tried not to shudder.

“I like your freckles,” was the only answer Pietro gave before dragging his mouth over the skin again.

“I thought you didn’t like them?” Todd asked, tilting his head away from the exploring mouth, giving Pietro more room to work.

“I lied,” the platinum blonde murmured against the skin, bringing his hands over to Todd’s knees. He had to give up on the patch he was lavishing attention on in order to take Todd’s legs in hand, but moving up to the slender neck wasn’t much of a concession.

“Hey!” Todd gasped, drawing his knees together, taking a hold of Pietro’s wrists.

“Relax,” Pietro said, lips just below a sensitive ear, “I’m not going to try to fuck you tonight.”

“Oh, good,” Todd said, relaxing a little in the older boy’s embrace. “Because I was getting close to the point where I wouldn’t say ‘no’,” he admitted, immediately crying out when Pietro bit down on the sensitive flesh.

“You shouldn’t tell me things like that,” Pietro said. He pulled back a bit and Todd very nearly whined at the loss of contact. A firm hand came down on his shoulder, holding him in place so the taller boy could close his teeth around the bump at the back of Todd’s neck and bite hard. Pietro groaned at the pathetic sound Todd made.

Todd was left gasping when Pietro darted away. “Wha?” was all he managed as he was hauled to his feet. Pietro positioned the smaller mutant in front of the mirror so he could get a brief glimpse at his new haircut. About to comment on it, the words were punched out of him when his back was slammed into the nearest wall.

“We need to talk tomorrow, when we’re both sober,” Pietro said before fitting his mouth to the other’s. He licked into the moist cavern and his tongue darted away before Todd could respond. “But I have an important issue that needs taken care of right now.”

“What? No,” Todd whined, reaching out for the other. “What’s so important?” he said between labored breaths. After looking around the room for a moment, paranoid even behind a closed and locked door, the older boy took Todd’s hand in his own and brought it down to the front of his pants. He could feel the shape of the length, pressed hard against the straining zipper of the tight jeans, hot and pulsing with want. He closed his fingers around it, Pietro’s hand encouraging him to do so, making the dominant partner hiss in surprised pleasure.

“I need to take care of this,” Pietro breathed against the corner of Todd’s mouth, shallowly humping the smaller, thicker hand.

“O- Oh, Okay,” the smaller boy breathed, giving a firmer squeeze with both of his hands; the one cupping Pietro, and the one holding his towel up.

“First, I want to see this,” Pietro said, tugging at the edge of the towel near Todd’s throat.

“See what, exactly?” Todd’s voice cracked mid-word.

“I wanna know what color your nipples are.”

“They’re brown like everyone else’s!” Todd gasped, taking his hand from his curious partner’s groin to join his other, holding the scratchy fabric up.

“Most of the nipples I’ve seen have been pink,” Pietro countered.

“Well!” Todd said, for lack of anything better. “They’re brown! It’s- it’s within the acceptable range!”

“Can I see?”

“Isn’t that more of a second date activity?”

“You've had your shirt off around me before, I just didn't care to look then. Besides, we haven’t even been on a first.”

“Exactly,” Todd said, hunching his shoulders.

It was a little bit of a sobering experience, but not in an entirely unpleasant way. Pietro found himself surprised that Todd had enough self-respect not to give in immediately. “Didn’t you do go further than this with _Connor_?”

“We were _dating_ ,” Todd defended.

“Mm,” Pietro said, ducking his head to press his lips to one pale, freckled shoulder. “Now if I could only get you to stand up straight and wear clean clothes every day.”

The slightest chill on Todd’s shoulder was the only evidence that Pietro had been there a moment ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. I've had a hectic summer, but I finally had some free time and figured a frisky Pietro would be a decent apology.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Progress. Or not.

Pietro avoided Todd for three days.

Maybe it was shame, maybe he'd lost interest, but it wasn't as if Todd expected anything different. The taller boy paid him no mind every time they passed each other in the hallway, in the kitchen, the driveway, didn't join him on the roof or ask him to fix the antenna. The only words exchanged were at the upstairs bathroom sink when Pietro decided Todd was taking too long to brush his teeth.

"What? Eat out my sister again?" the taller boy asked with a sneer, shoving Todd aside with his hip. "Hurry up, I need to use the mirror."

"Oo wook fibe," Todd grumbled around his toothbrush, sighing through his nose.

"I know I look good, but I need to check for those rare imperfections," Pietro quipped, flipping his hair. "Now, shoo," he said, slamming the door in Todd's face, leaving the olive skinned mutant scrubbing his yellowish teeth in the hallway and squawking indignantly.

He finished brushing his teeth in the kitchen sink and pocketed the toothbrush. Lance cast him a sideways glance, but when Todd forced a smile and his teeth were still somewhat yellow, the older boy decided all was still right with the world and went about his day.

Wanda was in and out those three days, but never around for too long, enjoying having Chad wrapped around her little finger for the moment and dropping in occasionally to tell Todd about something she convinced him to do. Todd would try to sidle up to her and snuggle, and she would allow it for a few moments before pushing him back enough that they could make eye contact and launch into another story.

When Pietro finally made real contact with Todd again, it wasn't verbal.

He wandered down the stairs, bleary eyed, finding the smaller mutant curled up on the sofa wearing his old sweater pulled down over his fingers as he flipped through the channels mindlessly. He let the corner of his mouth quirk up as he recognized one of his own habits, and walked over to the younger blonde. He sat next to him, practically on top of him with the way their thighs brushed as he sat.

Todd jumped, not having noticed the other without his shrill voice cutting through the air. He scrambled to get up, to move out of the way, already sputtering out an apology for sitting in the middle of the loveseat, but one of Pietro's hands shot out and held him in place.

"Ya don' want me ta move?" Todd asked, his accent thick with exhaustion, leaning away from Pietro slightly and leaning on his right hand and the remote.

Pietro merely grunted, taking his hand back and dropping his head to Todd's shoulder, stretching his legs out to put his feet on the table in front of them.

"Pietro," Todd started, and Pietro sighed through his nose.

"I'll leave," he threatened, and that was that. Todd's shoulders sagged, and he decided to just let whatever _this_ was happen. He continued to flip channels.

With the television muted and Pietro almost-snuggling, Todd could hear his own heartbeat thrumming in his ears. He wanted desperately to ask what was going on, wanted to curl in on himself, but Pietro's head prevented that, and he'd threatened to leave if Todd spoke. Some part of him wanted to keep the platinum blonde around when he wasn't being, well, himself, wanted the overheated body, soft face and wrecked, angsting psyche pressed up against him.

After a few minutes, he gave up the facade of chanel surfing, setting the remote aside and letting the soft glow of an old black and white movie wash over them. He tucked his head into Pietro's for a long moment before he chanced lifting his arm to rest it over the taller boy's shoulders.

Pietro huffed and cracked an eye open, shooting a wary look up at Todd before he closed it again and tucked his chin to his chest. They sat in silence for several long minutes, Pietro's breath warm and soft against Todd's neck, Todd's stubby fingers rubbing what he'd hoped were soothing circles on Pietro's opposite shoulder.

Todd's fingers started to wander, creeping upward unconsciously until he was threading his fingers in Pietro's hair, running his fingers through the short, soft strands to comfort himself as much as the other. He licked his lips and grimaced when the action could be heard in the silence. Pietro snorted in amusement. Pietro turned blue eyes that looked a morose grey in the light of the movie up at Todd, and the younger mutant couldn't keep quiet any longer.

"Pietro, what-" his words were cut short by Pietro pushing forward, bumping their noses together to knock Todd's to the side and slide his lips against the younger teen's.

It was a short, soft kiss, and Pietro closed his eyes and gave himself to it. Easily distracted, Todd kissed back, whimpering quietly. His fingers tightened on the back of Pietro's neck and held firm as Pietro nudged him back to lay against the arm of the couch.

The speedster poured all of his feelings into the next kiss, his tongue shy, but his teeth bold, and Todd let out a confused little laugh against Pietro's lips because the taller mutant radiated honesty and vulnerability in that moment. He kept his hands curled up loosely against his chest, resting on Todd with his forearms, shifting his lower body along the couch as Todd spread his legs to accomodate him.

Todd helped Pietro get comfortable against him, coaxing his arms out from under him and kissing away the uncertain noise Pietro made when the lengths of their bodies pressed together. Pietro's long fingers curled around and held tight to Todd's shoulders when Todd allowed his tongue to extend the slightest bit, squeezed as he whimpered when the prehensile muscle wrapped around his and pulled and stroked.

When Pietro pulled back, the corner of his mouth shined with saliva and his eyes were blown so wide that he looked like he found his way into Wanda's pills. Todd brought his free hand up to swipe his thumb over Pietro's bottom lip, sliding it across, enjoying the way the skin pulled for him, and wiping the spit from his face in the process. He opened his mouth to speak once more, but whatever he'd planned to say caught in his throat when the platinum blonde turned his head and nipped at Todd's thumb. Pietro shook off Todd's hand and found his lips again. _Don't you know I'm seeking validation?_ the kiss demanded, and Todd caved, giving up on verbal communication.

Half hard, Pietro kept fighting with himself as to whether or not he wanted to push his hips against Todd's, tensing briefly, then settling in against the smaller body when Todd's free hand moved to his back to encourage him to stay still. Pietro figured Todd should have known by this point that he wasn't the type to stay still, but he also figured he could give it a shot if Todd was willing to try. He finally let his hands wander, sliding down Todd's chest, thumbing over his nipples, closing his eyes against the little sound Todd made, and continuing down before the connection between their bodies prevented him from going further. Back up, he slid his fingers around Todd's neck, threading one set of fingers in his hair, the other laying loosely around the side of his neck, thumb resting in the dip below the slight Adam's apple. He stroked the bump while they kissed, then pressed slightly so he could drink in Todd's gasp. He opened his eyes to watch Todd's eyelashes flutter as he struggled to keep his eyes closed against the pressure.

When Todd whined, turning his head to the side to break the kiss and draw in a deep breath, Pietro relented the pressure on the younger mutant's throat. Instead, he kissed along Todd's jaw, finding a spot just below it to latch his teeth onto. He shoved Todd's arching body back into the couch with his hands on the other's hips when the dirty blonde let out a pained moan, and crowded him against the cushions to continue to suck a mark into the spot.

"Shit," Todd breathed, raking his nails over the back of Pietro's skull. He pulled the near-white locks, trying to push his hips up against the long body, getting the advantage from the strength in his legs and both boys moaned when their arousals lined up and rubbed together, confined by only thin sleep pants and underwear. "Pietro, shit, Piet', I can't take this," Todd whimpered, straining against the taller boy, but holding his head firmly in place. Pietro tried to scoff, but found himself moaning quietly instead at the way the words vibrated against his lips.

He pulled his mouth away with a wet pop and held himself up to look down at Todd and see just how wrecked he looked. The skin below his ear was an angry red, already purpling in the center in what promised to be a wonderful bruise. Todd's lips were slack as he panted, holding tight to Pietro's shirt and hair, his brows drawn tight together. Pietro huffed fonly from his nose and leaned down to kiss the mark he'd left. Todd blinked.

"You left a hickey, didn't you?!" he hissed. Pietro grinned and took Todd's lips once more before he could protest further.

Pietro curled his legs up under himself between Todd's legs and the kissing took on a gentler tone, the platinum blonde returning to his curious stroking of Todd's chest and shoulders. He slipped his fingers under the loose neck of his old sweater and traced freckles he couldn't see. After a few minutes, Pietro seemed to just give up on the idea of kissing and laid his head on Todd's shoulder again, curling up against him and huffing quietly.

"Okay," Todd said, throwing one arm behind his head to have something to rest it on. He stroked his stubby fingers through Pietro's hair until the repetitive motion put him to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, y'all! Sorry it's been so damn long. School and other projects have been kicking my ass! But, over the summer, I'll be back to work on this and a couple of my other stories.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is a total bro.

Todd thinks it's all a dream until he sees himself in the mirror the next morning and slaps his hand over his neck. He tried to find Pietro after he put on his highest necked sweater, but the older boy was nowhere to be found.

In the kitchen, Lance scrubbed his hand over his face at Todd's strange choice of clothing. He let the hand hit the table next to his cereal with a loud thunk that drew Todd's attention. When the olive skinned mutant looked, Lance asked, "What's up with this?"

"What?" Todd asked, stopping in the doorway.

"You're wearing a turtleneck and being quiet," Lance explained.

"I can't change muh clothes every once in a while?" Todd went on the defensive.

"No, you can," Lance said, irritation worming its way into his voice, "and we all appreciate it, but you're acting weird." He stood and grabbed a bowl from the cabinet, one of the bowls he and Freddy had managed to wash, dry, and not break just a few minutes prior. "Get back here," he said without looking, knowing Todd was trying to flee the situation. He poured cereal into the bowl. As he moved to the refridgerator, he continued; "You're going to sit here, eat a bowl of cereal, and talk to me because Freddy and Wanda are concerned about the way you're acting, and I can't have my back up driver being distracted and wind up crashing my car." By the time he finished talking, Todd had sat obediently at the table and Lance practically dropped the bowl on the table in front of Todd. He took a seat across from the smaller boy and picked up his glass, staring at the smaller mutant over the rim of it. "So?" he asked.

"I can't eat and talk at the same time, yo," Todd said around a mouthful of cornflakes.

"Manners have never stopped you before," Lance quipped.

"Well, maybe I'm trying to be a better person, or something like that," Todd said, his shoulders drawing up to his ears.

Lance sighed. "What suddenly made you care about," and he stopped to wave his hand in Todd's general direction, motioning up and down his person, "personal hygeine and all that?" He waited a beat before he ventured a guess; "Wanda?"

Todd petulantly put a large spoonful of cereal in his mouth and made a show of chewing so he couldn't answer. Lance sighed and leaned forward on the table, pinching the bridge of his nose. Todd's swallow was audible.

"That's how it started," Todd admitted in a small voice. Lance looked up and raised a brow as if to say _go on_. "I don't know, man! I just," he trailed off, shrugging. "More people are talkin' to me now. So, like, I guess it's worth the effort, even if it hurts a little."

"What hurts?" Lance asked, his brow arching higher.

"Being clean, yo," Todd said before he tucked into the cereal again.

"What?" Lance asked, his annoyance obvious.

"I guess it's my mutation or something," Todd answered around a mouthful.

"Todd," Lance said, and pointed to his own mouth.

"Sorry," Todd said after he swallowed.

A breeze wafted through the room and suddenly Pietro was leaning against the sink with the box of cereal in his hand.

"What did I tell you about apologizing, batty boy?" Pietro asked, sticking his hand straight into the box.

"Oh, good. I need to talk to you, too," Lance said, turning toward the speedster.

"Ooh, sorry," Pietro said after pouring himself a glass of milk. "No can do. I've got a date."

"A date?" both Todd and Lance asked at the same time.

"Mmhm," Pietro cheered, his smile faltering briefly when he caught the devistated look on Todd's face. "A real cutie from my math class," he added. "Well, gotta go. See you losers around!" He sped off with the glass of milk and the box of cereal.

"You better bring that box back!" Lance bellowed, the house shaking with his shout. He sighed and grunted, shoving a hand in his hair. "Anyway," Lance said, fighting off yet another sigh. "Why, exactly, does being clean hurt?"

"My skin is sensitive, yo," Todd answered, dropping the spoon back in the bowl and pushing the half-eaten food away from himself.

"Finish it," Lance ordered, reaching across the table to push it back toward Todd.

"I'm not hungry," the little blonde answered, looking down and away.

"Fine, whatever. So, why don't you use that sensitive skin shit?"

"That still hurts a little. 'N' you don't think it's girly?"

"It's not girly if it's for medical reasons, Todd," Lance said, finishing off his milk. "All of that aside, I need you to practice driving again, so, finish up if you're gonna, if not, throw it out and wash out the bowl. We need to start keeping this place at least somewhat clean or Mystique will have a fit."

After an hour of driving practice, Todd and Lance were managing to laugh together and actually enjoying each others' company. Until Todd suddenly remembered that Pietro had a date.

He tried to tell himself that the feeling of jelousy he was experiencing was unwarranted, that there was nothing going on between he and Pietro, other than the taller boy testing out his sexuality with a willing partner that he could force to keep quiet. His hand shook as he unbuckled his seatbelt and Lance sighed at his side.

"Tell me what you're thinking about. Right. Now," Lance ordered.

"Pietro's date," Todd answered automatically, then grimmaced, looking up at the brunette with large and fear filled eyes.

"Yeah, so the asshole got a date. I've heard that girls like a pretty boy who can be mean. For a while, anyway. They'll get tired of him when they see it's not just a front to impress them." Lance crossed his arms after unbuckling his own seatbelt and reaching across to take the key from the ignition.

"Isn't it, though?" Todd asked. "He's not that bad once you get to know him."

"Please," Lance said, rolling his eyes. "Don't let him charm you, too. I bought into it for a while because he's the head boss' son, but he's all talk and no game, and he has little to no sway with the big boss, so he's not worth sucking up to."

"It's not that I'm worried about, though it would be nice to be in th' boss' good graces," he trailed off for a moment, thinking about all the advantages having Magneto smiling upon him would bring. He could date Wanda or, Hell, Pietro if things with Wanda would never truly work out, if his back didn't straighten out and he didn't get taller - and he looked shocked with himself for that thought, because _of course_ he'd get taller. Plus, he could always force himself to stand up straight in public, even if it left him aching after a few minutes. He could always clean and cut his nails and whiten his teeth and take some kind of restorative cream to the bags under his eyes and he groaned to himself at all the effort that was in his near future. _The things I do for love._

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Well," Lance said again, mildly irritated, still facing him with crossed arms, "what is it, then?"

Todd sighed. "I don't know, but he ain't a bad guy at heart. He's just scared."

"Listen, I'm only going to say this once, and I'll deny it to the day I die if you tell anyone, so listen closely." Todd looked up at Lance, finally, and blinked. "We're all scared, Todd. Because we're mutants, we have a lot to be afraid of. But that's no reason to be a piece of shit to your allies. We don't have to be friends, but we do have to work together, and that's why I'm trying, so hard, not to yell at you guys and threaten to bring the house down when you don't do your part around here." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, holding on to the rubber slit that housed the rolled down window to ground himself. "We all appreciate the effort you've been making with staying clean lately, but you've been moping around more than usual, and Pietro's been doing the dumb shit he does when he's depressed, too." Lance opened his eyes again and managed to grin. "Then again, most of the shit he does when he's depressed is at least somewhat productive." Then he added to himself, "Now if only I could get him to clean."

"I thought we were friends," Todd said, his voice picthing up.

"You and Pietro?"

"You and me," Todd corrected.

"Well, yeah, I guess so," Lance said, running his fingers through his hair and looking away. "Anyway, if you don't have anything to get off your chest or whatever, I'm going to go relax."

Todd considered it for a long moment, watching Lance pause with his hand on the door's handle.

"Nah, I'm good. Thanks, though." After a moment, he added, "You too, ya know."

"What?" Lance asked, halfway out of the car.

"If you wanna talk, ya know," Todd said with a shrug.

Lance chuckled. "Thanks," he said and shut the door, heading off inside.

Todd leaned back in the seat and just stared up at the sky for a bit.


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Todd still has summat of a crush on Wanda, but now he's conflicted.

"What's this?" Wanda asked, pulling at the neck of Todd's sweater when they curled up on his bed in the afternoon to smoke.

Todd squealed and tried to pull away, but she'd already hooked one perfectly painted nail under the fabric and pulled it down. The grin that split her dark lips was at once magical and ruinous.

"You've got a hickey!" she cheered before putting the blunt they were sharing to her lips with her off hand. "Who gave it to you?" she asked, her voice strained as she held in the smoke.

"You assume it's a hickey!" Todd squealed, lightly slapping at her hand.

"I _know_ what a hickey looks like, Todd. Now, spill," she demanded, still grinning as smoke poured from the corners of her mouth.

"I fell off the roof again! Acting like I'm some sorta playa when you know I've only got eyes for you," he grumbled, turning his head away. He felt guilty for lying, not making eye contact as she hummed in disbelief.

"Well, if you won't tell me, I'll have to communicate with the anonymous hickey-giver via threats," she said, pulling hard on the neck of the sweater, pulling a yelping mutant closer to her.

"Wha- oh," Todd breathed, drawing in a few sharp, shallow breaths as Wanda's lips closed around the opposite side of his neck. She held him firmly with her other arm, though her hand held the blunt away from both of them so they wouldn't get burned.

Todd didn't fight her, but she kept her arm in place as she sucked a mark into his neck. He yelped when she bit down, moaned when she giggled.

"Babe, ya gotta stop," Todd mewled, bringing a hand up to rest it on her arm that laid over his body.

"Why?" she asked, pulling away only slightly. "Is someone going to get jealous? Think you're cheating on them?" Her lips brushed his skin as she spoke and he trembled.

"N-no, but I will get hard," he warned, voice quaking.

"That's nothing new," Wanda groused, returning to trying to give the hickey he had a mate.

"Wanda," Todd drawled, fingers shaking as he threaded them in her hair. She stilled and he almost cringed.

"I," she started, the sound drowned out over the wet smack of her lips, "kinda like the way my name sounds from you like that." She dives back in, sucking harder.

"Wanda," he tried again, and that time earns him a hard pinch of his nose when she pulled back.

"Now you're trying too hard," she said and shook his hand from her hair, climbing off of him to throw her legs over the side of the bed. She took a hit of the blunt then passed it off to Todd, whose fingers were shaking so hard he had to try to take it twice. "Hm, maybe you've had enough," she teased.

"I can never get enough of you," he said, finally able to put the paper to his lips. Wanda scoffed and reached out to ruffle his hair.

"Quit being so cute," she ordered. "With this new, clean you, if I didn't know you had a slight preference for men, I might be tempted to take you out."

"My preference leans toward women," Todd said, pushing his head into her fingers. "I am single, you know," he said, hoping she'd take the hint, adding _I think_ to his statement silently. There was a niggling feeling Todd couldn't quite place. Something felt off; not quite wrong, but not quite right, either.

"That hickey says otherwise," Wanda teased, waving her finger in his face before swiping the blunt back.

"Didn't I already tell you I fell off the roof?" he groused. "At least, I think I told you I fell," he muttered.

"You told me that, but I don't believe you. Everyone's gonna want you now that you're clean, since you're a real sweetheart and all," and she leaned away from Todd when he turned a goofy smile up at her, "when you're not being a weirdo," she added. "Hell," she continued, "your teeth even look a couple shades whiter. Give it a couple weeks and I might be willing to consider kissing you."

"Really?" Todd asked, his eyes widening slightly, though his excitement was tempered a bit by the haze he was in.

"I mean, no, not really. But I'm sure you could get a good guy or girl, or whatever you're into that week."

"But, it's always gonna be you, toots," Todd whined. Wanda threw her head back and groaned as she blew out smoke.

"Not the names again," she groused.

"Sorry," Todd said with a sheepish smile, attempting to take the blunt when it was passed back to him, but finding that it wasn't in her hand. Nor was it on the bed or floor. Rather, it was in Pietro's hand, said mutant leaning against the door frame.

"I don't think he'll get anyone if he doesn't learn to stop apologizing for every little thing," Pietro offered, holding the blunt centimeters from his lips as he spoke. He took a short hit, stepping away from the door, kicking it shut behind him. As he approached the bed, he added, "It's like he's apologizing just for existing."

"Be nice," Wanda ordered, scooting over to make room for her brother. "Besides, you like him, don't you?"

"I guess he's my friend at this point," Pietro said with a shrug. He passed a grinning Wanda the blunt.

"What, really?" Todd asked, curling his legs up so Pietro could splay himself across the end of the bed.

"Don't let it go to your head, pork boy," Pietro said, closing his eyes. Todd watched from behind his knees as Pietro's eyes moved behind their lids, unable to settle even as he tried to put on an air of relaxation.

"'Friend' is a high honor in Pietro's book," Wanda said, twirling what remained of the blunt around in her first three fingers slowly. "Do I hear wedding bells?" she teased.

"Two guys can't get married," Pietro said, rolling over on his back so he could turn a sour expression at his sister.

"They can in Massachusetts!" Wanda cheered, bouncing a little as she reached out to hand the blunt to Todd.

"Yeah, I'll get right on going to Massachusetts to marry a guy I've only recently become able to tolerate."

"So, you'd marry a guy?" Wanda asked, bearing a bright smile. Todd choked on smoke, trying not to laugh at Wanda's enthusiasm.

Pietro actually seemed to think about the question for a moment, surprising Todd.

"If he was filthy rich," Pietro said, kicking his shoes off. He brought one up on the bed and crossed the other ankle over his knee. "Then I'd wait a year, divorce him and take half his shit."

"Ooh, careful, Todd. Looks like my brother's a gold-digger," Wanda teased, smacking his elevated foot.

Pietro lazily rolled his eyes. He pushed Wanda's shoulder with his socked foot. "If you're gonna make fun, I'll kick you out."

"I was here first!" she said with a huff.

"You gonna pass that, or what?" Pietro asked, wiggling his fingers at Todd.

Their fingers lingered a second too long as they passed the blunt. Wanda hid her smirk behind her hand.

"Well, I guess I'll leave you two lovebirds alone, since Pietro wants me to leave so badly and all," she feigned annoyance, her mouth a strange grimace as she tried to conceal her giddiness.

"You think you're playing matchmaker, but you're not," Pietro groused.

"I don't know what you're talking about, dearest brother," she said, her voice pitched just a bit too high.

"Don't _dearest brother_ me," he complained, taking a long pull. " _Darling sister_ ," he added afterward, hissed out with smoke.

Wanda clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes. "I'm out, anyway. I've got things to do."

"While you're high?" Pietro asked.

"That's when things are most interesting," Wanda explained. "Bye, Todd!" she said with a grin and a wiggle of her fingers.

Pietro and Todd shared the rest of the blunt in silence, the only sounds their breath and the wind whistling outside.

"I see you got another one," Pietro noted, his voice disturbingly even.

"Another what?" Todd asked, blinking slowly, observing Pietro's face through the haze. He took in the semi-lidded eyes, the slack, salmon lips and palid, tight-looking skin.

"Hickey, dumbass," he answered with a grunt. "'M I not good enough for you?"

Todd wondered if he imagined the words.

"What?"

Pietro sighed heavily. "Forget it," he said and rolled over, facing away from the younger boy.

"Pietro," Todd started, hauling himself up on what felt like leaden limbs. On hands and knees, he reached out and laid his hand on Pietro's bicep.

"Don't touch me," the platinum blonde said, shrugging Todd off. Todd sighed and laid down next to him, facing his back.

"If it makes you feel any better, it didn't feel as good as I expected it to," Todd said quietly.

A long silence stretched between the two, and Todd considered getting up. He didn't quite have the capacity to be sad at the moment, but he wasn't exactly happy, either. He curled his fist in the sheet, watching as the pull of the sheet wrinkled Pietro's shirt.

Another minute ticked by before Pietro grunted. "Yeah," he whispered. "It kinda does."


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally some talking happens. Some.

Todd let the haze take him away, his mind wandering about the universe for a while before he drifted off to sleep.

When he came to, he found Pietro sitting at the end of the bed, one leg drawn up to his chest, the other handing off the edge, tapping against the carpet if the soft sounds coming from that direction were any indication. He had his arms wrapped around his knee, and tilted his head away from the soft, chilly breeze coming in through the open window. Todd didn't remember opening it, so he'd assumed the older boy had opened it while he was asleep. Pietro drew in a breath that sounded somewhat irritated.

"People always ask me if I'm cold," Pietro started, apparently having sensed that Todd was awake, "because I always wear sweaters." Either that, or Pietro thought the smaller blonde was still asleep and was just venting. If that was the case, Todd didn't want to miss what the other had to say and froze in place, trying to keep his breath as quiet as possible. "I'm not. in fact, I'm always a little too warm. I just," and he trailed off, sitting up straight and taking his arms from around his leg to look at them. He stretched them out before him and continued; "My hair is just so light that it's impossible to see on my arms and legs, so I worry I might look like a child. That, and I don't really like my freckles. They're hard to see unless you're right up on them, but still." He sighed and regreted his choice of a T-shirt instread of long sleeves. "I don't know why I just told you that," Pietro said, turning to look at Todd, frowning. "I'm not even high anymore."

"Uh," Todd muttered, feeling like he'd been caught spying on an intimate moment and heat rose to his cheeks as he sat up.

"As eloquent as always," Pietro said with a roll of his eyes. "Look, forget it, it's not important, anyw-"

"If you're uncomfortable, why do you wear them? Why do you care what anyone thinks?" Todd asked, wakefulness hitting him all at once. He sat up and rubed at one eye with his knuckles.

"It's not like you've ever cared what anyone thinks of you, so you wouldn't know," Pietro bit back.

Todd sighed and brought his other hand up to join in the rubbing of his eyes. They were back to the fighting. He supposed, just for a second, that he deserved it, letting Wanda give him a hickey and all when there was this unspoken _thing_ going on between them. Though, at the same time, he was annoyed that Pietro was being his usual bratty self, always two steps ahead of everyone else, assuming they were on the same page and treating them like garbage when they didn't know exactly what he was thinking.

"That what you think?" Todd drawled, letting his hands fall between his half-bent legs.

Pietro sighed again and turned to look out the window. "Fine," he said almost petulantly, "maybe that was uncalled for. You have been trying, _lately_ , I suppose."

"I'd like to think your standards ain't so low that you'd kiss someone ya don't find attractive just because you know they'll keep your secret, but what do I know?" With the cat out of the bag, Todd decided he may as well continue, get it all out. "I've only ever been one person's first choice, and he ain't never coming back, so, ah guess I'm just the DL side ass or plaything."

" _Connor_?" Pietro hissed.

"Yeah, _Connor_ ," Todd shot back. "I dunno why you're so hung up on him, either. It's not like we're dating, and you've got better options, anyway."

The fight bled from Pietro, and he almost seemed to melt back into his knee, wrapping his arms around it and putting his forehead down against it. "I really don't, though," he muttered. "I'm not even ready to admit it to myself, much less have a devoted relationship with another guy. Even if someone was willing to keep quiet."

The fight left Todd, too, and he scooted down the matress to sit closer to the other.

"I don't see what's so bad about it, yo," he said quietly. He lifted his hand to put it on Pietro's shoulder, but stopped short at the wary glare cast his way.

"Of course you don't," Pietro spat, looking up from his knee, "you like women, too, so you'll likely find a homely but kind woman, marry her and have lots of little ugly but happy kids." One side of his mouth turned up in a snarl.

"Maybe," Todd said, letting his hand drop to his knee. "Ya never really know how yer life is gonna turn out." He moved further down the bed to sit next to Pietro, catching a bit of the breeze himself. "I kinda always assumed I'd get killed in one'a these battles we finnd ourselves in on a regular basis. Even if I did manage to get married, I probably wouldn't have the time to have any kids." That made Pietro look over at Todd.

"And yet you're obsessed with Wanda," he said with a raised brow.

"I know how unrealistic that is, but a guy can dream, can't he?"

"If wishes were horses," Pietro said blandly.

"Then beggars would ride, I know," Todd answered, making one platinum blonde brow rise.

"I'm surprised you know that."

"Som'n my mom used to say," Todd admitted.

"Your mom used to say a lot of things," Pietro said with a scoff, straightening himself out.

"Yeah, she did."

"So, why aren't you living with her instead of us? I know Lance and Freddy's stories, but not yours," Pietro coaxed, trying to look uninterested.

"I probably could be, but really it's just too painful to even see her anymore without," he paused to frown, to grimace, "without Connor around."

"What does _he_ have to do with _your_ mom?" Pietro nearly sqwuaked.

"She was his foster mom. I was just at their place so much I started calling her 'mom'," Todd replied. "My real parents? They _made_ me, then decided I wasn't good enough right off the bat and dumped me at an orphanage in Medford, where the boss man found me and handed me over to Mystique when my tongue started doing it's thing."

"Medford? That's-"

"Boston, yeah."

"Mm," Pietro hummed thoughtfully.

"You?"

Pietro gave something akin to a smile, but twisted, almost bitter. "All I'm gonna say is you seem to have a thing for foster kids," was the only answer he gave. "Anyway," he suddenly announced, standing up and stretching, "I think that's enough bonding or whatever the hell we were doing for now, so I'm gonna go for a run. See ya later, loser." As Pietro geared up to run, Todd caught his wrist. Pietro stared down at the contact with his teeth clenched and his lips pulled back from the pearly whites. Todd looked concerned, and the older mutant decided he didn't like that look on the other's features, not when it was turned at him. "What?" he whined, clearly annoyed.

"I know you don't like me apologizin' and all that, and I'm not really even sure what I'm apoligizin' for or why," he trailed off, hauling himself up using the other, "but I'm sorry."

A litany of emotions crossed Pietro's face; disgust, annoyance, acceptance, and finally, amusement. He leaned down and got in the other's face, smirking. Todd fought the desire to back up.

"It looks like you're finally starting to learn," Pietro said, chuckling. "But, apology accepted. This time."

He stole the briefest of kisses before speeding away, the door slamming shut behind him.


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Todd reminisces and talks to Freddy.

Todd skipped school the next day, opting to sleep in after he finally managed to nod off, troubling thoughts that only seemed to surface when it was dark out slowly subsiding at the first glimpse of a lightening sky. With the others all having left for school or other activities some hours earlier, he didn't bother with pants, and simply threw a long-sleeved shirt on over his boxers and padded down the stairs to snag himself some breakfast. With a bowl of whatever tooth-rotting cereal Lance had purchased, Todd flopped down on the couch, thinking about how he deserved a day free of stress. He tried to put thoughts of Pietro and Wanda from his mind as children's cartoons played on the television and he ate his cereal like a man starved. 

He soon grew tired of bright colors and talking animals, and took his bowl to the kitchen. He put the items in the sink and, after staring for a long moment, turned the faucet on to wash what few dirty dishes there were. He left them in a drying rack he hadn't even known they'd had, wondering if it was something Lance had recently purchased. 

As he walked through the common areas of the house picking up stray garbage, he marveled at how successful Lance had been at getting the place looking presentable in more than a frat-house sort of way. He wondered if he'd helped at all until that point, his lips twisting in a frown as he threw away a burger wrapper and two soda cans. While the cans clanged against each other noisily in the waste basket, he wondered if they'd start recycling soon, and couldn't help but smirk at the thought.  
  
The house seemed lonely, Todd realized as he stopped in the middle of the kitchen, curling his bare toes against the linolium, with only him in it. Tired as she was of Lance's earthquakes, Freddy's heavy, careless step, Wanda's thoughtless flinging of spells, and Pietro's hasty, impatient everything, she was lonely without them. Felt barren, bereft, as did Todd. With a heavy sigh he went back to the living room, trying not to scratch at his hands that the dishwashing had dried out.

He straightened the couch cushions and tucked the controllers for their game system back in the cabinet with the system and their meager collection of games before climbing the stairs to head back to his room. 

He intended to simply grab a pair of jeans, but his toenail snagged on the carpet and he huffed out an annoyed sound. Figuring he couldn't stop making himself presentable now, he plodded to the bathroom and sat down on the edge of the tub to clip his too-tough, almost-yellow toenails. He thought he might paint them one of these days, that it might hide their natural color that regular people associated with being unwell or unclean. A dark purple, he thought, might be appropriately masculine, and possibly make him come off as olive-complected rather than greening. He made a mental note to ask Wanda if she had any and dumped his clippings in the waste basket, putting the clippers back in the medicine cabinet. 

He looked at himself in the mirror briefly: his hair was a mess, his shirt hung off one shoulder, and there were bags under his eyes, but as he forced a smile, he couldn't help but think it was a good-looking one. His teeth were whiter, his skin a little clearer.

Shaking himself from his musings on his reflection, he headed to his room to throw on a pair of jeans and his sneakers. He rolled a half-tobacco blunt and tucked it into his pocket along with his lighter. He decided to take a walk, to get away from the lonely house and her misery, hoping to leave his own there while he enjoyed a buzz in the nearby forest. He considered taking his English homework with him, but left it behind because he knew disaster would befall his textbook if he brought it along.

Outside, he took a deep breath of warm late spring air and bid the house farewell with a salute. He chuckled as he headed for the treeline.

Not too deep in the woods he found a sturdy-looking tree with lots of low-hanging branches. He grabbed one and hauled himself up, and up, and up, until he was almost on level with the roof of the Brotherhood house. He found a comfortable nook to nestle himself into and took out the blunt and his lighter. He put the paper to his lips and closed his eyes.

As he reclined, smoking, he let his thoughts wander. The past few weeks had been rough, and not only from dealing with Pietro's indecision and Lance's call for more responsible behavior from his bunk mates. It was also challenging for the rough memories resurfacing. Though, through the haze of plant, those memories didn't seem as bitter-sweet as they once had. 

Todd let himself think of Connor then, didn't try to shove the boy from his thoughts like he did every time he thought of his ex. Thoughts of soft, nearly chin-length chestnut hair and wide hazel eyes came to him unbidden, memories of the mousy boy tinted gold around the edges. He remembered how small the other had been, how fearless he was despite his size, not even as tall as Todd. Friendly and optimistic though he was picked on nearly as much as his companion had been. Remembering that Connor hadn't had a sense of smell was always good for a chuckle for the blonde, and he reasoned that was why the other boy had been so willing to spend time with him around when he hit puberty, his smell worse than the average boy's due to his mutation and sensitive skin. 

He wondered what the other boy was up to then, where he was and what he might be doing. Todd whittled away the hours making up complex 'what if' stories about how his exes life had turned out, continuing his musings long after his high had receded. He absently flicked his lighter as he tried to imagine what Connor would look like now, two years since they'd last seen each other. Eventually, when his thoughts drifted to how they'd parted ways, he quickly shifted his thoughts to Wanda, as he always did in such a scenario. Then, he froze, the sickening thought that he may have been using Wanda as a replacement making his skin crawl. 

Thankfully, heavy footsteps in the underbrush took his attention away from troubling thoughts. Todd pressed himself against the trunk of the tree, and peered around in an attempt to get a look at who was headed his way. He heaved an audible sigh of relief when he recognized the mohawk. 

"Todd," Freddy called out when he spotted the younger boy.

"'Ey, man," Todd said, putting on a smile for his friend.

"Is this where you've been instead of school? What's wrong?" The bigger boy extended a bag of chips up in a peace offering of sorts, and Todd dropped down to a lower branch so he could reach out to snag a handful. 

"Nothin's wrong," Todd said after he swallowed, "I just wanted to come smoke some grass while in'a grass." Freddy frowned.

"Nah, I know you, Todd. You always climb up to high places when you're sad. It kinda worries me,"the older boy admitted, still frowning.

"Ya got nothing to worry about," Todd assured him, helping himself to another handful of chips. "You've seen me fall off the roof. You know how durable I am."

"Still," and his frown didn't go away, even as Freddy grabbed his own handful of chips. "You can only fall so many times until it starts to take a toll. You could always talk to me instead of doing dangerous things." Todd sat back on the branch he'd been perched on as his friend talked around a mouthful of chips. 

"There's nothin' ta worry about, Freddy. I just wanted to relax for a bit where there's no one else around," he assured.

"You say that now, but I don't want to be the one to find your lifeless body when your sad thoughts get the better of you in one of those high up places," Freddy said, a warning lilt to his voice.

"I'm fine, _really_ ," Todd stressed, though he couldn't quite say the thought hadn't crossed his mind. "I was just thinking about Connor."

"Connor? You haven't mentioned him in forever," Freddy said, his brows pinched in confusion.

"Yeah, I'd done pretty well to stop thinking about him until recently. Pietro found out I once dated a guy and he's been up my ass about it."

"Why?" Freddy asked, one brow lifting. "Is he being a dick about you liking guys? I thought you two had something going on. What's going on?" 

"Ah, it's not like that, I don't think," he muttered the last part. "He just wants to know what was so special about Connor that would make me date a guy when I also like girls, I guess," Todd explained, though he sounded confused himself. 

"Ya liked him. It's that simple, ain't it?" Freddy asked before tilting up the chip bag to knock crumbs into his mouth. Todd smiled. 

"See now, you - you get me," Todd said, hopping over onto Freddy's shoulders, planting a knee on the meaty mass so he could perch himself there. "I wish all friendships were this easy."

"Is that what's going on with you and Pietro? Trying to be friends?" Freddy asked, stuffing the empty bag in his overalls pocket. 

"Something like that. I'm not sure yet," Todd answered honestly as Freddy started to head back toward the house, taking Todd along for the ride. 

"Would you date him if he were into dudes?" Freddy asked casually, and he noticed when Todd stiffened, pulling on the strap over his friend's shoulder to steady himself when he thought he might fall. 

"I don't know," Todd answered honestly. He folded his arms over Freddy's head and laid his chin on them. "Seems kinda complicated," he let out on an airy huff. 

"Yeah," Freddy agreed, "he'd probably think you were trying to replace Wanda with him." The smaller boy gave a bitter chuckle at that. "I don't think Lance would be able to handle it, either."

"How's that?" Todd asked.

"Uh," and Freddy stopped to laugh, shaking Todd, "two horny teenagers who are together living in the same house? Yeah, no. He is so relieved that Wanda doesn't like you back, because he doesn't want to hear that."

"Rude," Todd muttered, and Freddy laughed again. "I think," and he trailed off for a long moment, the sight of the house staying his tongue.

"Yeah?" Freddy prompted.

"I think Peitro and I have something," he said quietly. "I don't know what it is yet, so keep it to yerself, but, ya know, there's something there, even if I don't know what it is yet."

"I thought so," Freddy said with a nod, shaking Todd once more. "Is that where you got those hickeys?"

"Oh shit!" Todd said, sitting upright quickly, slapping a hand over his neck. "I fotgot," he mumbled. 

"So it is?"

"Keep a secret?"

"When have I ever told anyone something you've told me?"

"Never," Todd confirmed. "One's from Pietro, one's from Wanda."

"Get out!" Freddy said, reaching up to lift Todd bodily over his head and hold the smaller boy out in front of him. "Dude. Twins," he said, too seriously. "If I were into guys, I would be all about that."

"No," Todd whined, wiggling until Freddy put him down. "Stop it. Wanda doesn't feel that way about me. She was just being," and he trailed off, looking for a word.

"Devious?" Freddy suggested.

"That works," Todd gave with a shrug. "But you can't tell anyone, I'm serious. This is delicate, and I don't even know what this is."

"I won't, I swear. I just wish you'd talk to me more, like we used to, ya know?"

"Yeah, I know, and ah'm sorry. I just don't wanna create any drama. We don't need that right now."

"No drama here, I swear," the older boy promised, holding up a hand. "I just want you to be happy."

"Thanks, man," Todd said, a real smile worming it's way onto his features.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not dead, and neither is this fic.


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pietro's plans go awry.

Freddy saw Todd off once they were inside with an, "I'm making subs tonight, so I expect you to come down and eat later." The smaller boy gave a loose salute before hopping off up the stairs. 

He wasn't in his room for five minutes, didn't have time to regret the honesty Freddy always pulled from him before Pietro was standing in the doorway, whistling to get Todd's attention. 

"You just walking around like that?" the platinum blonde teased, smirking. Todd's shoulders hunched and he slapped a hand over his neck, covering only the mark Wanda had left. One fine blonde brow rose in response. "You weren't in school today," Pietro observed, pushing away from the door frame, walking into the room like he owned it. "Mrs. Peterson asked me where you were like I'd know," he said as he snagged a comb from the top of the worn out dresser. "I told her you were sick," the older boy explained, motioning for Todd to turn around. 

With a mumbled "thanks," Todd turned and let the other pick the tangles from his hair and smooth it out. 

"You're not actually sick, are you?" Pietro asked as he turned toward Todd's dresser to look for something that would cover his hickeys. Finding nothing, he walked around the bed, where Todd had thrown a hoodie a few days prior. Todd responded as he accepted the garment from Pietro;

"Not physically," and he slipped the hoodie on, happy to find that it bunched at his neck and hid the marks. He missed Pietro's frown.

"There," the taller boy said, reaching out to tousle Todd's hair, "now I can stand to look at you." Pietro expected Todd to say something in return, but the two found themselves simply staring at each other in silence for a long moment. "So," Pietro trailed off, making a gesture urging the younger boy to say something, "back to skipping and blowing off school again?"

"Nah," Todd answered, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck. "I just didn't sleep well last night, so I stayed home to get some sleep in case the boss needed us for something. Can't go into battle tired, ya know?"

"Hm," Pietro grunted in acknowledgement, crossing his arms over his chest. "If you couldn't sleep last night, why weren't you downstairs?"

"I was actually tryin'a sleep, and didn't give up like ah usually do." After he answered, Todd noticed Pietro's eyes darting around the room, then toward the door.

"I could use some rest myself," he said, seemingly weighing something heavy in his own mind if the slight frown and pinched brows were any indication. "Summer's coming up soon," he started, and Todd blinked, waiting for him to continue. "My dad has a place upstate. Country adjacent. We could go out there for the first week of summer, get some real rest before he sends Mystique down to work us to the bone, as per their usual," he said, his voice uncharacteristically slow and thoughtful. 

"Just-" and before Todd could finish his thought, another voice broke their moment.

"Really? Just how many places does our old man have?" Wanda asked, leaning her shoulder on the door frame. Pietro half turned a shrugged, the action belying the anger that built up inside him. 

"I don't know. I know of three, maybe four," he said, a little irritation worming into his voice. Todd pulled the sleeves of his hoodie down over his fingers as Wanda appraised Pietro, a small, sad smile on her face.

"He still have the one we lived in when we were little?"

"No," Pietro said, turning away from both the room's occupants, zipping over to the drawer Todd kept his green in, tugging it open. "That one burned down," he said, the words caught in his throat for the briefest of moments. "Hey, pork boy, where's your lighter?" he asked, drawing the pack of Camels from his back pocket, holding them open in offer. 

Todd had been about to offer his lighter when Wanda reached out with her own, flicking it in front of her brother's face saying, "ya know that's not how you ask for something, right? Insulting people before asking a favor makes them less likely to do a favor for you," she explained, lighting the cigarette he put to his lips anyway. 

"I'm starting to think he likes it," Pietro said with a sneer. "Gets off on it, or something."

"Oof. Too kinky for me," Wanda said, putting her hand to her chest as it still held the lighter between her forefinger and thumb. She turned her attention to Todd, her shining black lips pulled up in a smirk. "Maybe it's a good thing I don't share your feelings, since we're sexually incompatible and all." She winked.

"Uh," Todd sputtered, his jaw dropping. "H-he was joking!" he finally spat after a long moment of the twins trying not to snicker. 

"Oh no," she started, hands on her hips after returning the lighter to her pocket, "I should've figured you for a masochist, what with you still chasing after me after I zapped you and all." She flicked her fingers playfully in the younger boy's direction, making a buzzing sound in her throat as she did. "And now you're going after Peitro because he talks down to you all the time. Poor thing," and she clicked her tongue, "must always have a stiffie, living in this house."

Peitro snorted, working the window by the bed up so he could lean out and smoke. The sound drew Wanda's attention to him.

"So, about that house," she started, and he was thankful he was turned away so she couldn't see the sheer rage his face had twisted in for a moment. "Were you thinking of having everyone going up there to just relax for a few days?" she asked. "I think it would be nice. I'd like to see it, since I can't remember ever having been there." Her voice lilted up at the end as if it were a question.

"You haven't been," Pierto said. "I've only been there once or twice myself, and never to really rest, but there's a library and a sound room up there I think you'd be able to lose yourself in for a week," he said, the _and leave Todd and I the hell alone_ unspoken. Though if Wanda tagged along, he really doubted he'd get any time alone with the younger boy. He sighed out smoke through his nose. 

"We should all go," Wanda said, a dreamy note to her voice. "A kinda, hmm, holiday weekend for couples. You and Todd, Lance and Kitty, me 'n' Chad, Freddy and, uh, what's her name? Tabby? Do you think she'd come down?"

"If Kitty did, she prob'ly would," Todd supplied. He missed the way Pietro grit his teeth. "But, ya know, we're," and he pointed back and forth between himself and Pietro, "not a couple."

"Not yet," she said nearly in a sing-song tone, "but after a week at a romantic villa, you might be." When Peitro's shoulders rose to his ears and he huffed audibly, Wanda continued; "I'm just teasing," she said, "but it would be nice to get away for a week. Should I ask the old man, or will you?"

"Why don't you do it?" Pietro spat. "He likes you more, anyway." For a moment, Wanda looked stunned, her hand to her chest on reflex.

"It," and she faltered for a moment, "it probably only seems that way because fathers are supposed to be overprotective of their little girls, even if they can blow people up just by pointing at them." Pietro sighed.

"Yeah, you're probably right," he muttered, turning his arm over to look at his wrist where his shirt rode up. He wouldn't say that her powers certainly had something to do with it as well.

"Well, I'll get out of your guys' hair for now. I won't tell anyone until I get a definitive answer from dad," she said. "Oh, and I have something for you, Todd," she said, fishing around in her pocket. 

The smaller boy would normally have batted his eyelashes at her and folded his hands by his cheek, but he found himself more concerned with Pietro's behavior in the moment. Instead of his theatrics, he asked "what's that?" absently. He looked over at Wanda as she threw something on the foot of his bed.

"That's the good stuff, so don't smoke it all in one sitting, ya hear?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. Thanks, Wanda," he said, offering a small smile. She returned the gesture.

"Yes, I much prefer that name. You're welcome, Todd," she said, and gave a slight nod before turning on her heel to leave the two alone. "See ya," she called as she walked out.

Todd turned his attention back to Pietro, finding him leaning on his elbows, holding what little remained of his cigarette over his wrist thoughtfully. The younger blonde reached out to snag the cigarette and took the last drag himself, stubbing it out on the bedside stand. Pietro gave an irritated huff and looked over at Todd, his mouth twisted in something that wasn't quite a frown. He didn't say anything just yet. Instead, he took out another cigarette and tilted his head up, asking for a light from Todd. 

"Another one?" the slighter boy asked, a brow raised. 

"We can share," Pietro offered. Todd gave him a light, leaning his elbow on the windowsill. They were standing a bit too close, but neither moved despite the door still being open. He took a long, slow drag, then glanced toward the door. After handing the smoke off to Todd, he darted to it, closed and locked it, and returned to the exact same place he'd been in before. He leaned in close and breathed in the smoke that rose from Todd's lips. He turned to look out the window, sighing once more. "Maybe I should be glad Wanda interrupted. I was about to make a stupid decision, anyway."

"What d'ya mean?" The smaller boy asked, taking another drag. Pietro kept his lips pressed together in a thin, firm line until Todd offered the cigarette back. 

"I was going to ask you to spend a week with me, alone, at one of my father's houses," Pietro said, letting the cigarette hang from his lips. "That would have looked bad," he explained.

"No one would have known," Todd said, reaching up to take the cigarette from Pietro's lips.

"My father would have. We would have. Lance would ask where we both vanished to," Pietro said, shaking his head. "Besides," and he stopped to roll his shoulders, "I don't know what I want yet, anyway."

"I- what?" Pietro frowned in response, and held his hand out for the smoke. Instead of handing it to him, Todd held the filter to the other's lips. After taking a drag, the platinum blonde tilted his head down into the smaller boy's palm, placing a gentle kiss to it. 

"I don't even know what this is," he said, "and I can't give you what you want. But I want, Todd." The younger mutant could only sigh. He slid his hand over to cup Pietro's cheek, the cigarette still between his fingers. He watched Pietro's eyes move to look outside, check for any observers before letting himself lean into the touch. "I want," he said quietly, closing his eyes. They fluttered open when Todd pulled his hand away to take a drag of the cigarette, widening when the shorter boy leaned forward to share the smoke between them, their lips not quite touching. He drank it in greedily, his pupils blowing wide from more than just the nicotine. 

They finished the cigarette that way, and as Todd reached back to stub it out on the bedside stand, Pietro took Todd's face in his hands and licked the last remnants of smoke from inside the other's mouth. The shorter mutant whimpered, one hand on Pietro's elbow, the other finding his hip as the slender young man moved them toward the bed.

By the time they parted, both were panting, laying side-by-side and facing the wrong way. Pietro stroked his fingers through Todd's hair.

"Tell me about Connor?" the platinum blonde asked. 

"Pietro," Todd said seriously. 

"I want to know what it was like," he said, sitting halfway up when something crinkled noisily under him. He took his hand from softer-than-usual hair to pick up the bag Wanda had left, looking at the bud inside. 

"I don't think-"

"I just want to know what it was like, that's all," the older boy said, dropping the bag between them.

Todd sat up, picking up the baggie. "I did my best to forget about all of that," he said as he started picking apart the clumps. He sighed heavily. "But if you really wanna to know, give me a cigarette and let me roll this real quick."

Pietro produced a smoke in the blink of an eye, holding it out to the other in a delicate fashion. They made eye contact as the tobacco passed between them. 

"...Please?"


	27. Chapter 27

"Fine," Todd gave, "just let me take a few hits of this first."

Pietro waited, surprisingly patiently, his slight fidgeting the only sign of the itch of curiosity under his skin. While Todd smoked, the taller boy kicked off his own shoes and sat up to sit next to Todd, who had moved to lean against the wall at the head of the bed. 

"Well?" Pietro asked, wiggling his fingers, asking for the joint. Todd huffed and handed it over.

"It ain't kicked in yet," the younger boy complained.

"It that bad?"

"Nah. It was great," Todd said, drawing his knees up to lay his arms over them, "and that's the problem." The platinum blonde took another hit, just staring at the other with a brow raised. "I- it's just- I miss him so much, and it hurts to think about the whole thing. Ah coulda been happy, but the universe just wasn't havin' that, ya know?"

"I don't know," Pietro said with a quick shake of his head, passing the smoke back. "I've only dated girls I'm not really interested in, remember?"

"Yeah, s- sucks, I guess," he saved, rather than apologizing, and the platinum blonde snorted. 

"Tell me," Pietro suggested, leaning forward to press his forehead hard against Todd's shoulder. The smaller boy just let it happen, a huff of disbelief working it's way from between his lips. 

"We were eleven when we met-" Todd started, only to have the taller boy interrupt.

"I don't need the whole backstory. Just tell me about the relationship."

"Well, I mean, it kinda developed out of our friendship," Todd explained. "We was playing video games one night, and he liked to sit between my legs so we could both play on th' lil handheld, and he just turned a bit, touched my cheek and kissed me." The younger mutant gave a one-shouldered shrug, using the shoulder opposite the one his companion was occupying.

"That simple, huh?"

"I mean, pretty much. After that there was a little confusion, ya know. Like, what to call it, who to tell - not that we really had any other friends - but we had to decide if we'd tell mom- _his_ mom or not. She already knew, though. It's not like we were good at hiding it. A couple'a thirteen year olds stealing kisses and holding hands when we thought other people couldn't see." Todd stopped to laugh, dragging a hand over his face. "We probably made too much noise in the bath." 

Pietro's head shot up so fast that the younger boy was surprised his head didn't crack his nose on the way up. The platinum blonde wavered a bit.

"I don't think I heard you correctly," he started, only a bit slower than his usual. "Did you say 'in the bath'?"

"Uh, yeah," Todd said, pulling away a bit so he could put the paper to his lips again and take a long pull. "We were dumb kids who thought people would think we were still young enough to do that kinda thing. Was hella weird when we came home one day after school when moms wasn't there and found a pack of condoms on 'is bed and a note that said 'be safe!'," Todd said, laughing to himself. 

"Wait, his mom was cool with it?" Pietro asked, swiping the blunt when Todd pulled it away from his face. 

"Yeah. She said as long as were were happy and safe, that's all that really mattered."

"Lucky," Pietro mumbled into his fingers as he brought the smoke to his face.

"I _was_ ," Todd stressed, "for a little while. Life has a way'a just... kickin' ya in the balls."

Pietro laughed. He hadn't meant to, but it happened, and he couldn't stop it. A tear escaped his left eye and, as he moved to wipe it away, Todd intercepted, wiping it away with his thumb. The older mutant's laughter quieted, and he found his numb hand clinging to Todd's wrist.

"What are we doing?" he asked quietly.

"Thought we was gettin' high and talkin' aout my ex," Todd supplied.

"Funny guy," Pietro complained, stroking long fingers over the skin exposed when he pushed the sleeve up. "Think you know what I meant. We're hardly even friends," he muttered. 

The smaller boy didn't know what to say to that, so he didn't say a word, letting his thoughts drift aimlessly, going along for the ride as he tried to figure out if Connor and Pietro would get along or not, how Connor would fit in at the Brotherhood house, if Pietro would try to steal Connor, and even if he'd still have a crush on Wanda if Connor were around these days. When Pietro took another hit of the weed, thoughts of the mousy brunette vanished, replaced with the sharp features before him, these too tinted golden at the edges. 

"So, did you do it?" Pietro asked, thick white smoke spilling from the corner of his mouth.

"Do what?" Todd asked, blinking a few times as if trying to reset some internal processor. 

"Did ya fuck, numbnuts," the older boy clarified.

"Oh. Nah. Well, not exactly," he said, sounding as confused as Pietro looked.

"Care to explain?" He frowned as Todd's cheeks started to pinken.

"I mean, like, we blew each other, there was some finger action once 'r twice, but it was mostly just kissing and jerking off together in the bathtub or his bed." Todd took what remained of the smoke back, sucking it's remaining life out before snuffing it on the bedside stand. Pietro had seemed to have almost melted into a strange position, his cheek resting over Todd's collar bone, his legs curled up under Todd's bent knees, his hands folded in his own lap. 

"I could do that," Pierto said, his voice slurred the slightest bit. "Maybe, I don't know," he said, then pressed his lips together again. There was a long silence as Pietro's thoughts felt for a long moment like they were suspended in cooking oil - heavy, wet and slow, but still slipping along at their own, comfortable pace. Todd idly petted the hairs at the base of Pietro's skull while he waited, though he didn't know for what. "I've given more thought than I care to admit about sucking dick." He then chuckled bitterly. "This _is_ some good shit. Would never say that sober."

"Ya did once," Todd said simply.

"I was pissed off, if you remember. Anger is like a drug," the taller boy said. The two remained silent for a long moment, Pietro's tongue feeling heavy and swollen in his own mouth, words he wanted to say unable to push out over the leaden weight between his teeth. Eventually he managed to haul himself up and look at Todd's face, into his wide eyes. "Let me blow you," he tried to demand, or ask - he wasn't sure.

"'Scuse me?" was all the dirty blonde could manage, blinking slowly like a caricature of a toad. 

"Wanna try it," Pietro said, swinging a heavy leg over Todd's lap, settling himself in and bracing his hands on the wall behind them. The other's hand fell away, coming to rest on a slender hip. "I know I get you hard," he breathed, his lips pressed to Todd's temple.

"I dunno if that's a good idea," the younger mutant reasoned. "Ya might regret it when yer sober."

"I wouldn't ask sober," Pietro said, mouthing his way down the side of Todd's face, along his jaw as the smaller boy tipped his head back. 

"That's the problem," was the answer, thick fingers tightening on the slim hip.

"You can pretend I'm Connor," Pietro breathed, arching his body against the smaller one under his. Todd pushed him back. 

"No," he said firmly. "Ah'm not going to do that to you, Pietro. Jus'... Jus' go jerk off or something. Neither of us need any more hurt feelin's right now." Pietro huffed, dragging his teeth over the faded mark on Todd's neck, holding the hoodie away from the other's neck. "I mean it. I ain't gonna use you like that, and I ain't gonna let you use me, either."

Pietro finally sat back, his shoulders loose and his arms limp as they dangled over his own legs into Todd's lap.

"Then why do you keep making me like you when you know we can't have anything serious?" he asked, his voice thick and wet.

"I-" Todd started, then stopped to frown, study the older boy for a moment. "It's not that we can't, Peit', it's that you don't want to. Hell, I don't even know if I want to. I mean, I like you, but since I liked Wanda first, there's always gonna be that, uh, what's the word I'm looking for? Resentment, I think, there, on your part, thinkin' I'm jus' replacing her with you, and you, well, you're not always nice to me - nah, you're downright mean sometimes, and I dunno if I'm willing to put up wit' dat. I know I've got, like, zero self-confidence, but I've got enough sense about me not to let myself be abused."

"Yet you abuse yourself all the time," Pietro said, his voice airy. Todd couldn't help but cradle his wrist and stroke his arm through the sleeve of the hoodie where dozens of pink and white scars littered his green-tinted flesh.

"Tha's different. I can control that. When it's someone else, I can't."

"Standing up for yourself makes me want you more."

"I don't know if I should be sorry or not," Todd said with an awkward laugh and a shake of his head. "Look," and he paused to run his fingers through his hair, "le's jus' take a nap and talk about this when we wake up."

"...kay," Pietro relented, flopping down on the bed next to the blonde. "Dunno if I'll still be here when you wake up, though," he said, honesty and unshed tears burning at his throat.

"Just, please stay, Pietro."

"I'll try. No promises."

"It's a start, I guess," Todd said, scooting down the bed, a puff of laughter escaping him at Pietro's arm around his waist.


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Todd has a panic attack.

It wasn't as if Todd hadn't thought about what Pietro had suggested. More specifically, he'd thought about the older boy and his sister at the same time, not that he'd admit it out loud, especially not to either sibling. He remembered then, as Pietro dozed, his arm across the smaller boy's middle a dead weight, Freddy's jovial mention of twins earlier. Todd would have laughed if he hadn't been trying to remember how to breathe, stunned at himself for admitting out loud that he knew Wanda didn't like him. The fact that she never would, no matter how hard he worked, or lied, or tried to be someone he wasn't, or someone he was, caught in his throat like something physical, a bite of food he hadn't chewed properly and it caught painfully in his esophagus - a feeling he hadn't felt since before his mutation made him more elastic, able to swallow things whole.

He thought then that he made a mistake. Several mistakes. The most recent one not flirting with Wanda the last time she was in his room. Though he never really had her to begin with, he felt like the admission, the backing off, was her slipping away, and it felt similar to the way he'd felt when he'd first gotten the news that Connor was leaving. Though he'd had no control over the situation with the other boy, he could have kept pining for Wanda, putting on that brave face and keeping up hope that she'd come around and see just how devoted he was one day. Yet, he had found himself backing off in the last couple days. For what, he wondered. For Pietro? Because there was a sliver of a chance that his crush on Wanda had been a coping method for getting over Connor, even though he hadn't even met Wanda until well over a year after the other boy left?

Hyper aware of Pietro's breath puffing wetly against his neck, and the heavy arm limp around him, he shivered even as sweat built at his brow and on his back, sticking to his shirt, making the shirt cling to the hoodie and the fabrics scrunch together uncomfortably as he squirmed to find a comfortable position. Wanda had been right; this had been some good shit. Strong, and a strand that brought Todd's anxiety disorder screaming to the surface, to the point where he could almost feel the individual thoughts clawing at his mind like sharp, pointed nails. He needed to move, and was relieved his feet cooperated with him.

As he flung his legs over the side of the bed, he turned to look back at Pietro, who hadn't stirred more than to pull his arm back to himself, still sound asleep. His cigarettes had come free of his pocket, and the box laid in the rumpled sheets. Todd swiped one, moving the box near Pietro's hand, where the older boy would see it when he woke up.

With a brief glance toward the open window, Todd threw out the thought of climbing out the window and smoking on the roof. He knew he wasn't coordinated enough for that at the moment. He pulled up his hood and headed to the door, bumping his shoulder into it when he tried to open it without unlocking it first. He cursed under his breath, corrected his error, and headed out, closing the door behind him.

In the hall, he could breathe a little better, but it was only an upgrade from a coffee stirrer to a bendy straw. He thanked his lucky stars that there was no one there to see him pause awkwardly in the hallway, just trying to catch his breath. He reached out for the wall to brace himself as he headed down the stairs. He could hear Lance and Freddy's voices in the kitchen, light and jovial. He stopped at the base of the stairs and leaned against the wall, not wanting to face the other teens, but happy to let their voices wash over him, distract him. His parched tongue cried out for a drink, but the thought of catching either of the others' attention seemed worse than dry mouth.

Freddy's "I'll go get 'em," missed Todd completely, and he as though he'd jumped when the tall boy walked around the corner and nearly bumped into him, even though his shoulders only rose a fraction. "Oh, hey, Todd," Freddy greeted, giving a lazy wave. "I was about to come get you and Pietro. Food's ready."

"Y-yeah," the shaking blonde managed after a moment, an awkward smile making his lips creak. Freddy frowned and Todd grimaced, wondering what response the other had wanted.

"You alright, man?"

"Mmhm," he hummed, tugging at one of the fraying strings that hung from his hood.

"You con't look alright," Freddy said, his frown deepening. "Come on," he urged, taking his smaller friend by the bicep. Todd's limbs wouldn't cooperate with him to resist as the mohawked mutant pulled him along toward the kitchen, where he sat the other in a chair he pulled out with his free hand. "Sit down," Freddy instructed. "I'll get you some water."  
Lance's lips parted slightly in confusion, watching the goings on from his perch against the counter, sipping from a can of soda.

"Todd?" he asked, raising a brow when the younger boy only flinched and didn't look up from where he was staring at the tile between his feet as if it held all the answers to the universe's most closely guarded secrets. "Hey, Todd," Lance called again, snapping his fingers. Todd grit his teeth, wincing.

"Don't do that," Freddy instructed, placing one meaty paw over Lance's fingers, as the brunette ad been about to snap again. "It's a panic attack." He pulled up his own chair and sat next to Todd, handing him a glass of water. The younger mutant chuckled under his breath as he took the glass and simply held it in trembling hands.

"How could he have a panic attack right after smoking weed?" Lance asked. "Don't act like I can't smell it," he said by way of clarification.

"Wanda probably gave him Sativa instead of Indica," Freddy said, but Lance merely splayed his hand, as if to say he had no clue what that meant. "There are different types of weed, and some can cause people to have panic attacks."

"Ah. He gonna be okay?" Lance asked, then hooked his thumb over his shoulder at the subs neatly cut and laid out on the largest plate either of them could find. "Should I wrap this up for later, or what?"

"He'll be fine in a few minutes," Freddy said, waving one massive hand in the other's direction. "He just needs to drink his water and sober up," he stressed at the younger boy, who instantly put the glass to his lips and started to chug. Freddy took a hold of the glass and eased it down, his other hand resting on Todd's upper back. " _Slowly_." Todd's face turned red before he felt the prickling of his blush.

"So, he's not going to need to go to the hospital or anything?" Lance asked.

"No one needs to go to the hospital over weed. He'll be fine," Freddy assured. "If you want to help, you could open the back door so we can get a draft going in here."

"Alright," came the answer as Lance took the few steps to the door, opening it. It wasn't long before the scent of freshly mowed grass wafted in on a cool breeze. Todd continued to sip at the water Freddy had placed in his hands, shame overriding everything he'd been feeling up until that point.

"Sorry," he eventually muttered.

"For what?" Lance asked before Freddy could.

"F-for being such a- a pain-in-the-ass," he managed after a long moment. Lance rolled his eyes though the other couldn't see.

"This is nothing, Todd," he said. "You're not chasing Wanda around, or breaking stuff, or making a mess, so just relax." The younger boy cast a glance up at Lance from under his hood. "We all get worried about shit," the brunette said with a shrug.

"Thanks," Todd said, turning his gaze back toward the floor.

"Eat," Lance ordered, thrusting the tray of mini-subs toward the other.

"Uh-" was all he could say, sitting up what served as straight for him.

"You need it, and Freddy makes a mean sub," he said, picking up one for himself. He took a bite of it, chewed and swallowed as Todd simply stared. "Second best sub I've ever had."

"Excuse you?" Freddy asked, mock offended.

"There's a sub place down by the boardwalk that's better," he teased back, smirking when Todd took one for himself, finally. He moved to put the tray back on the counter, Freddy snagging a bread and meat mountain for himself as it moved by him.

The three ate in silence for a long moment, Todd taking a sip of water between each bite.

After a long moment, Todd managed; "It is good." Freddy beamed, finishing the one he was working on, then getting up to grab a second.

"You sound more lucid now," Lance observed.

"Yeah," Todd said sheepishly. "I feel like an ass," he admitted.

"Don't," Lance ordered. "Like I said, we all overthink things sometimes." After a brief pause, he suggested, "someone should go get Pietro." Todd hummed urgently with a little shake of his head. "What?"

"He needs to rest," _and I don't want to see him right now_ , "someone can take him something later." Lance sighed.

"He's not feeling good either? What's up with you two lately? You've both been," and he held up a hand, fingers splayed as he looked for a word, "like, I guess, morose lately."

"Lately?" Todd asked before he could stop himself. Freddy and Lance both raised a brow, and the smaller mutant's shoulders hunched. "I guess we just haven't been very good at hiding it lately."

"Hiding what?" Lance asked warily, bracing himself.

"Being sad all the time," Todd muttered. "It's easier to pretend when Wanda's around."

"Really?" Lance asked, grabbing a few sodas from the refrigerator. He handed one off to each of the room's other occupants before pulling a chair out from the table and taking a seat saying, "she kinda scares me a little bit," as he did. Todd laughed.

"Yeah, but she'll never seriously hurt a friend," he said.

"I sure hope so," Lance said, "because we need her on our side."

"She is a powerhouse," Freddy agreed.

Todd didn't answer. Instead he resumed looking at the floor, holding his soda with both hands.

"What?" Lance asked, looking intently at the younger boy, who could feel the other's gaze on him, and Freddy's when the bigger mutant turned.

"It's nothin'," Todd muttered.

"It's not 'nothin'' or you wouldn't have that look on your face. Tell us. We're your friends, aren't we?" Lance said. Todd looked up, surprised that the other didn't sound irritated with him. He opened his mouth once, closed it, sighed, took a deep breath and tried again;

"With gals like Wanda and Mystique, and guys like Pyro on our side, I feel kinda useless at times," he admitted.

"You're not useless," both older boys said at the same time. Freddy's eyes widened a bit as he looked over at Lance, not really expecting that response from him. Lance continued; "You just have a different specialty. Guys like you and Pietro, you're made more for stealth missions. Like, recon and shit, and I already know you both are good pickpockets, so with a little effort, you'll both serve a very important function for our team."

Todd gave a small, wet, weak smile. "Thanks," he said.

"You don't need to thank me for telling the truth, man," Lance said, awkwardly looking away. "Well," he said as he stood, "good talk, guys. Someone make sure Pietro eats, and someone other than Todd does the dishes, because he washed the dishes from breakfast today. Thanks for that, by the way."

"No problem," Todd said, his smile growing a bit. He appreciated the recognition, and Lance's gratitude, casual as it may have been, pushed away the remaining unpleasant thoughts that had been looming. He wiggled his toes happily as Lance left the room.


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is this... a date?

Pietro avoided Todd until Friday, at the end of the school day, as the Brotherhood crew were piling into Lance's car to head home. As soon as the younger boy saw the platinum hair, he felt guilty for being the one to leave when he'd asked the other to stay, said they'd talk when they were sober. He swallowed the guilt though, as he hadn't exactly made himself scarce, hanging out in common areas of the home, occasionally helping Lance straighten up, or helping Freddy move some of his plants outside. 

"Oh, so the prince deigns to join us today, huh?" Lance teased as Pietro climbed in the back seat next to Freddy. 

"Don't flatter yourself, commoner," Pietro teased back, "I only jumped on so Todd and I could get a ride to the boardwalk." Lance looked to Todd, who sat in the passenger seat, buckling his belt, with a raised brow. The younger mutant could only shrug. He had no idea what the other was planning. "You forgot already? Geez, and here I thought you were taking care to improve yourself. We're going to make some money." Todd blinked. "...by giving poor, burdened individuals lighter wallets?"

"Ah," Todd said.

"Stealing from people doesn't sound like a self-improvement," Lance said with a snort as he started the car. "Mystique gives us money so we don't run the risk of a run-in with the law."

"Psh," Pietro said with a wave of his hand, "we won't get caught. We're the stealth guys, remember?"

"When you can keep your mouths shut," the brunette shot back. Freddy snickered into a meaty paw. 

"Eh, you'll see," Pietro said, settling in as they pulled out of the school parking lot. 

Once dropped off at the beachfront, after Todd and Freddy waved to each other, the smallest mutant and Peitro found themselves standing there in awkward silence. 

"So," Todd drawled nervously, "where's our first mark?"

"We're not robbing people today, Todd," Pietro said, an amused smirk on his face. It wasn't malicious as her his usual. In fact, it was almost fond.

"Then, uh, won't Lance expect money when we come home?"

"Sure," Pietro said, steering them toward a less populated section of shops. He pulled a large wad of cash from his back pocket and unfolded it, holding about a third of it out for Todd. "Here. Buy yourself somethin' pretty." Todd blinked, looking like he'd never held so much money at once. "What?"

"This is, like, two hundred dollars."

"Yeah, so? It means nothing to me at this point, since I can literally just go grab some whenever I want. I'll give half of this to Lance when we get home and he'll be happy," Pietro explained, tucking the paper back into his back pocket. 

As they walked, Pietro seemed to have a destination in mind, so Todd followed.

"Um, so, what're we doin'?" Todd asked.

"We're just spending some time together," the platinum blonde said with a one shouldered shrug. 

"I get that, but," and he trailed off for a moment, already missing the weight of his backpack, not having the strap to hold onto, "what, _exactly_ are we doing?"

"I figured we'd get something to eat, then get some ice cream on the boardwalk, then go sit under the dock and, I dunno, talk. Maybe we will pickpocket some people after all."

"So, like, a date?" Todd asked, brows raised. Pietro scowled.

"Dude, don't make it sound so gay," he complained.

"You started it!" Todd defended. Pietro gave a good-natured scoff and started walking off ahead of the other boy. "Hey, wait up," Todd said, having to hop to keep up with his companion.

"You're going to have to move a little faster if you want to keep up with me, scrub!" Pietro teased, picking up his step just a bit more. 

They were both panting by the time they stopped in front of a family-run diner, though Pietro was short on breath from his laughter rather than any physical activity. 

"This," and Todd had to stop for a deep breath through his nose, "this where we're eating?" 

"Yeah, I like this place," Pietro said, walking in, holding the door open behind himself.

"Peit!" came the call of an older teenager, a young woman just a little older than them. She had an apron on over jeans and a t-shirt, her dark hair pulled back in a high ponytail. "Hey," and she sounded happy, "you're not alone today!"

"Nah, thought I'd bring a friend with me today," he explained, sliding into a booth. "Melinda, this is Todd, Todd, Melinda," he said with a gesture between them.

"Heya," she greeted, taking an order booklet from her apron. "Kinda surprised you have friends, honestly."

"You wound me," Pietro complained, mock swooning. She clicked her tongue.

"Ya know, this guy took my little sister to homecoming last year," she started, looking at Todd. "When I found out he took multiple girls as his dates, I punched this little bastard in the mouth, and he's been coming here a couple times a month ever since."

"Dude, he doesn't need to know that," Peitro whined.

"Which part? The part where you're a player who got put in his place, or the part where you liked being put in your place?"

"Just get us a couple burgers and sodas, or you can kiss your tip goodbye," the platinum blonde groused. 

"Yeah, yeah," she said, rolling her eyes. She walked off with a smirk on her face. 

Pietro looked out the window as he waited for his food, chin on his palm.

"Hey," Todd started.

"Hmm?"

"Why do you come here so much if the head waitress punched you in the mouth?"

"Maybe I like being abused like the scum I am," was the answer, a bitter tint to Pietro's voice.

"Pietro," Todd said, his brow furrowed.

"It was a joke," he said, lifting his head. He slung his arm over the back of the booth. "I felt guilty, so I thought I'd throw some money the family's way and I wound up liking the place." He gave a loose shrug. "The food is good, it's quiet."

Satisfied, for the most part, Todd nodded, and the two went back to waiting in silence. It was only a few minutes before their food and drinks were delivered, and they ate in the same silence. It was oddly comfortable, being the only people in the shop, and Melinda being occupied. 

Once they had finished, Pietro called out to Melinda, waving money in her general direction. She came and collected it.

"Want a receipt?" she asked.

"Nah," he said, getting up, waving her off.

"Eh, bring your friend again next time you come. You're much more tolerable when you don't talk so much," she taunted. 

"Eh, eat a dick," Pietro said, flipping her the bird as he headed toward the exit, he and the waitress both smirking at each other.

Outside, Todd said "I'd say she was nice, but all you two did was insult each other."

"Yeah, that's how I am with most of my friends," Pietro explained. He let that hang in the air for a long moment before he chanced a glance at Todd, who had a contemplative look on his face. "Ice cream?"

"Sounds good," Todd agreed with a nod. 

Pitro treated Todd to a frozen treat, bumping the end of the other's cone up, smearing it on his nose. The taller boy laughed at the indignant squeak that came from his companion. He reached over with a napkin, wiping off the dripping dairy product despite Todd's protests. Once they finished the treats, after Todd managed to get revenge by smearing Pietro's own cone over his cheek, they washed their hands and faces at a local convenience store where they bought sodas. 

"Follow me," Pietro instructed, nodding toward the beach. 

They went, the taller mutant always a step ahead. Pietro ducked around an outcropping of rock the dock extended from, and pulled Todd under when the younger mutant was looking around for him.

"Oh, uh, hey," the dirty blonde answered awkwardly, finding himself in Pietro's strong grip. His face tinted with pink as Todd looked around, taking in their surroundings; the little alcove carved out of weathered gray stone on white sand, shaded by the dock with the sound of waves lapping the shore in the distance. "This looks like th' kinda place that couples go to make out or something," he observed, his hands resting in the bends of Pietro's arms. The older mutant took Todd's chin in one of his hands as he guided them toward the back wall of the small space.

"Why do you think I brought you here?" he husked.


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's some homophobic language in this chapter.

"In public?" Todd hissed as Pietro backed up, pulling the smaller mutant along with him. The younger blonde wanted to kiss the other as people walked overhead, the thought making something hot curl around his gut, but there was a niggling feeling worried at the edges of his mind, and he couldn't help but give voice to it. 

"We're not exactly in public," Pietro tried to soothe, teasing fingertips down a slender neck, making Todd shiver. The shorter young man spread his fingers as he pressed his palms to a broad chest. 

"This has to be a popular make-out spot. There's too high'a risk to do this here," he reasoned, giving a slight shake of his head. The speedster frowned, even as his fingers wandered up into his companion's hair. 

"I thought you were out?" he accused.

" _I_ am," Todd said, letting himself lean into Pietro as the other leaned back against the wall of rock casually, "but _you're_ not. What if someone you know finds us here?" The older mutant huffed in response.

"I hate it when you're right," Pietro complained. "But, ya know what?" he asked, drawing Todd toward himself, cupping the back of the other's head. "That's a risk I'm willing to take. I can make myself scarce if someone shows up." The platinum blonde quieted any further protests by pressing his lips to the other's, grinning into the kiss as he felt Todd melt against him, the fight draining from his small body. 

It wasn't long before they found themselves trying to reach each other's hearts with their tongues, Todd letting his extend the slightest bit, loving the way it made Pietro shiver and pull him into his lap with a firm grip on his hips. Seated on the rocky sand, the older boy snuck a hand under Todd's shirt, teasing the bumps of the other's spine with his nails. Panting against Pietro's lips, Todd's jeans tore that much more when his knees slipped on the rough terrain, finding himself fit snugly against the other. 

Pietro gave Todd's swollen lip a rough nip, and the smaller boy whined low in his throat, fingers squeezing hard on the other's sharp, broad shoulders. A heavy breath escaped him when the platinum blonde's hands settled on his hips, pulling him down, grinding his obvious arousal straining too-tight pants into his backside. Todd closed his eyes, his nose wrinkling against his will.

"Ah, ain- isn't this a bit too far for where we are?" he huffed, even though his hands wandered up to the sides of Pietro's neck. He felt the soft skin, letting his hands slide along it, his thumb brushing the distinct Adam's Apple. He felt the annoyed sound the other made, vibrating through his palms and the pad of his thumb. 

"Didn't you tell me to live a little, or something like that?" When Todd's hands came up to his face, Pietro nipped at the thumb that brushed the corner of his mouth in retaliation. 

"What I said was som'n like, 'being gay ain't so bad'," Todd clarified, his brows pinched. 

"Yeah, but the 'fool around with guys' was heavily implied," the speedster shot back, stroking his thumbs up and down Todd's sides under his shirt.

"Was 'ere an 'in public' implied, too?" Todd asked, unable to keep himself from scoffing. Pietro frowned, seemed to deflate, and looked away. "'Ey now, c'mon," Todd said, gently turning Pietro's head so the older boy would look at him, but his icy eyes darted off in the other direction before they could make eye contact. "Why don't we go home? Do," and he trailed off for a moment, squirming, suddenly feeling awkward in the other boy's lap when they weren't trying to taste each other's tonsils, "whatever it is we're gonna do in the safety of my own room? Or your room. Wherever we can lock the door," Todd finished awkwardly with a shrug. 

"Home," Pietro repeated, his voice distant, still refusing to make eye contact. 

"Did you-" and Todd faltered, thinking better of making the comment after some of the words had already escaped him.

"Did I what?" Pietro deadpanned, finally looking up at Todd after he slumped back against the rock wall. "That place isn't a home. People like us? We have no home. 

"You know we're only being _stored_ there until we finish high school. After that, Magneto is going to ship us out to do his bidding around the world." The older boy's voice was bitter, his words hissed. 

"That's not- I didn't mean-" and Todd stopped to take a deep breath, center himself. He wouldn't say something stupid, he told himself. "Dude, I didn' mean ta make you think about all that. I meant you wouldn't have to worry about someone catching us if we went back to the house. An' I'm not really comf'table doing more than kissing out here, anyway." Pietro observed Todd for a long moment, the anger that had suddenly risen in him fading away slowly. "An' it's not like we won't always be together, the four of us. We're a crew. We might be sent all aroun' the world, but we'll be together because we learned to work together." Pietro's frown returned, but more than angry, he just looked tired. 

"We don't work together. _I_ don't work together. My abilities- my _everything_ set me up for a lonely life."

"How's that?" Todd asked, sitting back on Pietro's knees, resting his hands on the taller boy's shoulders.

"I'm _Magneto's_ kid, I'm a mutant, and I'm better suited for stealth." The speedster stopped, shook his head just a little too quickly, swallowed audibly. "I've got a big mouth, a bad attitude, and I'm a fucking faggot, Todd." The smaller boy twitched, caught off guard by the harsh language the other used. He pulled his hands back into his own personal space, curling them artlessly against his chest. "I'm a tool," and Pietro stopped to laugh, "in more than one sense, and that's all I'll ever be."

Silence stretched between them, the distant sounds of life seeping into their little alcove; the water sloshing against the sand and rocks, a child's ear splitting laughter, people walking and talking - a large, undulating mass seemingly with one consciousness and many, many mouths. Todd's voice seemed so small in comparison to it all when he finally spoke;

"I don't know how to convince you that that ain't true. None if it, 'cept for being a mutant and the boss' kid," he said, his gaze downcast. "Er, it doesn't have to be."

"Only it is and it does," the older boy shot back. "You're better off just telling me to fuck off, and going to look for your stunningly average wife."

"What, she got upgraded from ugly to average now?" Todd teased weakly. Pietro scoffed, one corner of his mouth twitching briefly.

"Well, you are kinda cute when you take care of yourself. I think you can bag an average girl now," he explained. "Might need a little more work first, but it's not out of the realm of possibility." Todd smiled sheepishly, but it wavered shortly.

"I jus' don't see why you won't try."

"What, with you?"

"Well, I-" and Pietro interrupted when Todd wavered.

"See? You don't even want me beyond this," Pietro said, gesturing between their bodies. 

"I neva said that," Todd shot back, his too-wide lips turned down in a scowl. "We jus' went on a date!"

"I never said it was a date," Pietro defended himself, his voice firm, clenching his teeth afterward. Todd sighed.

"Whatever it was, I was enjoying it," he mumbled. Pietro pinched the bridge of his nose. 

"I should really just go back to treating you like crap, because I don't want to deal with this," he said. 

"With what?"

"With what," the platinum blonde spat back. "With your baggage, with my baggage, with _life in general_. 

"I don't want to be your silver medal, and I don't want to cause you any more pain, if you can believe that," he mumbled the last part. 

"What are you talking about?" Todd asked, lifting his hands to Pietro's cheeks. The taller boy wrapped spindly fingers around the other's wrists, but didn't pull him away. Rather, he simply held on. 

"You know what I'm talking about. I'm just a replacement for Wanda, for Connor, and my being in the closet is only gonna cause you trouble."

"You're not like either'a them at all," Todd said, sounding exasperated. "You're not a replacement, Pietro, damn. If you'd just give me a chance to get to know you-"

"You won't like what you see."

"Lemme be the judge of that, a'ight?" 

Pietro spent a long moment just staring at Todd's lips. He expected the younger boy to say more, to say something stupid, to make a joke or quip, but nothing came. There was just silence, sounds from the outside world seeping in again. 

"...fine," Pietro complained, his voice small and his shoulders hunched. "Just," and he trailed off, chewing his cheek for a moment, "be patient with me. Don't expect miracles. I'm not going to shoot myself out of a cannon for your," and he hesitated for the briefest of moments, "affections, or anything."

"You wouldn't be you if you did," Todd said with a soft sigh of relief. He felt like some small weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "An' I apologize if I act weird sometimes."

"You're always weird," Pietro said with a smirk, batting Todd's hands away so he could reach up and ruffle Todd's hair. 

Back to teasing, the two found themselves much more comfortable. They got up and brushed the sand and gravel from their pants, then headed out to the beach. They talked about school and their housemates until the light started to fade. The pair then walked back to the brotherhood house, jostling each other playfully all the while.


End file.
